5551073
by lleighhh
Summary: All-Human. Slightly OOC. A kissing booth, Bella Swan, and Edward Cullen. Need I say more?
1. I need your help girls!

555-1073

**Summary: One-shot. All-human. Bella is working the kissing booth at the annual carnival when Edward sees her and his brothers make him get in her line…**

**A/N: Okay, this is my very first story thing for fanfiction and I hope everyone who reads it really likes it!! Please help me out and review to let me know how good or bad at writing I am haha...and I don't own twilight :)**

**Ready..Set..Go!!**

BPOV

I can't believe I am sitting here going along with this torture!!

This is the whole reason why I do not invite people over to my house. My crazy mother always finds a way to involve us in her latest project.

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It was about a week ago and my mother decided she wanted to be on the Forks Town Activity Committee. This was one of her phases she was going through. Renee is a bit erratic and scatterbrained, but also a busybody. I mean the woman can't sit still for 2 minutes!! Joining the committee is probably her third phase this month. Before this, she's participated in yoga classes (lasted 2 sessions), pottery (about a week), knitting (1 day), water aerobics (her longest yet that lasted the _entire _summer), and many other outrageous activities.

On this particular day my best friends, Alice Brandon and Rosalie Hale, came over to help me study for my Spanish test. (I will defiantly never be bilingual, I mean _leer_?? How am I supposed to remember that mean "to read"?) We were studying away when my mother arrived home from her first committee meeting.

"Isabellaaaa! I have something to tell youuu!" Renee sang as she moved through the hallway.

"In here mom!"

"Oh! Good afternoon Alice…Rosalie! It's a good thing you're here because I will need all of your help" she seemed excited…this couldn't end well.

"We would be happy to help with anything you need Renee. What's up?" Alice chimed in, followed by a glare from me. She knew better than to agree to something my mother had planned before hearing the details.

"Well girls, as you know the annual carnival is coming up, and _I_ am in charge of the KISSING BOOTH!!"

Renee burst into little hops and claps, very Alice-esque. I just sat there as my jaw dropped, reaching all the way down to my textbook sitting in my lap. No way in hell am I sitting behind a table as saliva drooling thirteen year olds line up to play tonsil hockey with me!! I REFUSE!!!

Before I got a chance to say no Rosalie and her big mouth beat me to it.

"Of course we'll work the Kissing Booth!!"

I gave Rose the ugliest look ever but she turned and whispered to us "Oh my gosh think about it, an excuse to kiss any hot guy you see, no questions asked!?! How could we say no?!? And Bella wipe that look off your face, you are doing this!!"

"Definitely!" Alice agreed as she got up and joined my mother in her happy dance.

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After countless days of trying to convince them there would be no hot guys in my line and I would come home with a disease like mono or something, they still made me attend the carnival and sit behind a huge sign which read, KISSES – 1 TICKET, with a million pink and red hearts taking over the sign.

So far, I have kissed a group of junior high boys that keep coming back, a man I would say that was in his seventies and dentures that are pretty loose, and a couple freshmen boys with suggestive comments. It could not get any worse!

To my amusement though, Alice and Rose were miserable. After about ten minutes into our shift they turned to me with looks of disgust, horror, and shock.

I just smirked "I told you so…but nooooooo, let's not listen to Bella!! Just because she knew this was going to be terrible doesn't mean we should acknowledge the fact that she warned us _all_ of her mother's crazy plans never turn out well!!"

After my little rant, and some huffs from my friends, I noticed about five boys back there was someone new in my line…

EPOV

My family and I had just moved to the small town of Forks where my father, Carlisle, is the new doctor at their hospital. So far Forks was not my friend. I was nervous about starting school halfway through the semester, and it rained…ALL THE TIME!

My mother, Esme, decided to drag my two older brothers and I to the carnival at the school that day. Apparently she was supposed to help with some of the booths and wanted us to hopefully get to know some of the kids from Forks High.

As soon as I walked through the entrance I saw _her_.

She was without a doubt the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. Her mahogany hair was fanned across her shoulders and her sparkling brown eyes looked annoyed. She was amazing.

Of course my brothers, Emmett and Jasper, had to notice me staring.

"Oooh Eddie's got a girlfriend already!" Emmett my idiot older brother teased as we made our way to buy tickets.

"Shutup Em! I have no idea what you are talking about…where's this girl you speak of??"

"Come on!! Emmett isn't that stupid and I saw you too!" Jasper added.

"OHMYGOSH!! Eddie she's working at the Kissing Booth your going!!" Emmett boomed as he dragged me over to her line and handed me my ticket. I tried to fight him but the guy was huge.

There were a few guys in front of me, and when my eyes met hers as I stepped in line, it couldn't have taken longer to get my turn.

BPOV

The gorgeous guy walked up and shyly slid his ticket towards me.

He had the most piercing emerald eyes, bronze straight-out-of-bed hair, and his t-shirt showed off his well-defined muscles. It took me a second to realize I was ogling him, which made me blush profusely.

"Erm…Hey, I'm Bella Swan. Are you new?"

What kind of a question is that idiot?! Who have you ever heard ask that question?! Are you new?? You should have just stopped at hey, he knows your name and will tell everyone how stupid you are. Great, you've now just embarrassed yourself in front of possibly the hottest guy in the entire universe!! Nice going…

He chuckled… _What does that mean? Are chuckles good or bad? Think Bella!! Or at least say something!!_

"Umm yeah my dad is the new doctor…and I'm Edward Cullen by the way…" he said as he cleared his throat.

"Oh…yeah my parents told me about your family moving here..."

I heard from my dad, Charlie, about the new addition to the grand Forks hospital. Charlie had taken it upon himself to lecture my friends and I in welcoming new kids. If he had told me Edward was the new kid, I would have actually listened.

"Oh…your Chief Swan's daughter, right?"

"Yes, he was actu-"

A little twerp named Mike something from the sixth grade cut me off, "Commmme Onnnn! Quit with the flirting. He gave you his ticket, and you're job is to kiss him, that's why its called a kissing booth and you have to buy the tickets, so you don't have to go through all this crap before hand!!"

This kid was seriously ruining my moment.

"Thanks for clearing that up…Mike. I didn't know that was the reason for having a Kissing Booth." I said through clenched teeth.

Alice, Rose, and two other pretty cute guys were snickering beside me.

"Well…I can't hold up the line, looks like you have quite a few admirers waiting." Edward smirked

"Oh! Yeah I guess so.." I nervously laughed and started to lean in.

We got so close that I could feel is cool breathe against my face and for a second I forgot where and who I was.

_Don't ruin this kiss!! Maybe if he thinks you're a good kisser he'll forget about how much of a dork you are!!_

Our lips locked and a spark moved through my entire body. The kiss was soft, and it was amazing!! He caught my lower lip in between his and we were just about to get to the good part when…

I"EH-HEM!!!" _stupid Mike!! Can't he see I'm busy?!_

We both pulled away and I was sucked into his green-eyed orbs refusing to even blink.

"Uhhmm…Will I see you at school on Monday Bella?"

It took a second to register his question; I shook my head to think of something to say that made sense.

"Yeah! Monday."

"Okay, see you soon then…goodbye Bella"

"Bye Edward"

With that, he and the other two good-looking boys walked off.

I turned to Rose and Alice and squealed for the very first time in seventeen years.

When Edward was about ten steps away Rose yelled out, "YOU BETTER CALL HER!! 555-1073!!"

Of course the blood immediately rushed to my face staining my cheeks a crimson red.

EPOV

I immediately whipped out my phone and programmed Bella's number in.

Forks isn't looking so bad after all…

I can't wait until Monday!

**A/N: Soo?? Did you like it?? Let me know!! :)**


	2. Update! Not a Chapter Sorry!

**A/N **

**Hey everyone!!**

**I wanted to thank all the people who reviewed, favorited me as an author, and favorited 555-1073!! So to show you how grateful I am, I have some shout-outs to attend to :P**

**First is shellybellyhawk!! She was the very first one to review my story!! Everyone should go check her out too because she has a story started also!! It's a really cute/funny combination (The movie Push meets Jonas Brothers). So go check that out!!**

**Everyone below either favorited the story or myself as an author or reviewed (in order of when they did):**

**LoveNeverEndsLala;Risika_McKnight;diamondlake;MeeVampire;Blueberry232;.rose;edwardcullen'snumber1;beenacheezaWA18;**

**jillcabana;****tlah21;****Cassiopeia7;BookAddict101;CasCul;childishmistake;cloisleytonforever;Robpfan;Cannygrl; and Seth'sOneAndOnly!!**

**Thank you so much for 46 e-mails when I opened my inbox!!! That was unbelieveable!!!**

**_________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

**Soo...about 555-1073...I have decided to keep going with the story. But I have horrible timing because school starts the day after tomarrow and I will be busy with cheerleading and school work...no worries though I started on the second chapter today and my goal is to get to at least chapter five by tomorrow so I can update maybe every other day???**

**I did have another story in mind and am already on Chapter 6 for that one...so let me know...do you want me to hold it until I finish 555-1073, try to write both at the same time, or put 555-1073 on hiatus and keep going with my new idea??? PM me or review to this A/N!!**

**Until then let people know about this story :) and I have enabled anonymous reviews...in case anyone that doesn't have a fanfic account decided to read this.**

**'lleighh;3**


	3. Secret Admirers

**A/N Hey!! aren't to proud of me?! I have the second chapter up!! :)**

**Okay a few things; AxJ and RxEM will be a part of this story, but I wanted to focus on BxE for the first few chapters, just to set things up for later in the story...thanks to everyone who reviewed to my A/N! I'm still deciding on whether or not to do both stories at the same time...but I want to know what everyone thinks of the summary so here it is:**

**An all girls' school, Parkwood High, and an all boys' school, Forest Hills, combine during the six's junior year in high school. Parkwood Hills (the new name for the school) is buzzing with excitement from all the new classmates. What will happen this new school year? -Characters are a little OOC and its AH-**

**But enough of that...I present Chapter 2 of 555-1073!!!**

BPOV

Apparently when Rose yelled out my number to Edward, all the other boys in my line wrote it down as well. I had just gotten of the phone with my 17th 'admirer', as my mother called them, that night. Edward still hadn't contacted me, and with each new text message I received, my hope that he actually liked me was crushed further and further into the ground.

"Why are you so bummed honey? Your phone has been ringing off the hook since we got back from the carnival!" My mother looked totally confused while Charlie, my dad, fidgeted uncomfortably in his chair.

The thing about Charlie is, he doesn't like to show his emotions, completely opposite of Renee who lets us know how she feels at any given moment. I take after my Dad more…I just don't want everyone knowing _exactly_ what I'm feeling all the time. But Charlie did give subtle signals, like fidgeting in the chair meant he didn't like what he was hearing about all my callers.

I decided to call Rose and yell at her for practically handing out my number to every loser at the carnival to pass some time.

It took five rings, she knew she was in trouble.

"Hey Bells..."

"Would you like to know how many creepy little boys called me earlier?!?"

"Uhh…15?"

"Close, 17!! _SEVENTEEN _little turds called me wondering if I was still trading kisses for tickets!!" I fumed.

I could hear Rose laughing hysterically in the background.

"This isn't funny _Rosalie_!!! I may have to change my number if this keeps up!!!"

"I'm so-_haha-_sorry-_ha-_Bella!" she apologized in between fits of giggles.

"Well if Edward doesn't call me or talk to me at school tomorrow you better sleep with one eye open Hale! Consider yourself warned!"

With that I hung up still hearing her frantically apologizing through the speaker.

About five seconds later my phone started ringing…_again_!

"Hello?" I groaned.

"Hey sweet tha-" I didn't even let the kid finish. I could tell by his squeaky voice even over the phone it was Mike, the one who interrupted the most amazing kiss of my life.

I sighed remembering Edward. His soft lips, the electric current that flowed through me when we touched, his flawless face, and that darn crooked grin that almost made me faint.

"Isabellaaa! Supper's readyyy!!" my mother called.

I chucked my phone across the room in hopes of freeing myself from the incessant calling boys and possibly breaking my phone altogether.

As I was helping my mom load the dishwasher I heard a loud beep. That could only mean one thing. I had a missed call.

"Bella!! Find that thing and shut it off!" Charlie yelled. He hated cell phones because he just couldn't figure them out.

I chuckled silently and fished my phone out from behind the table I threw my phone at.

I flipped it open.

**5 missed calls.**

**2 new text messages.**

**2 new voicemails.**

I quickly scanned through the numbers, none that I recognized, and the text messages, both asking me if we could start from where we left off at the carnival. I dialed my voicemail, as I was doing that it occurred to me that no one had left a message when I hadn't answered before.

"_You have two new messages. To play your messages press one." _I did as the machine told.

"_First message: Saturday, 7:02 p.m. Your callback number is 555-3040." _The robot lady informed me.

"Hey…err Bella?? I don't know if you remember me but we met at the carnival today. I just uhm…wanted to give you a call and say...hi…so uhhh call me back when you get this…um bye!"

I thought his voice sounded familiar, and I hoped it was who I was picturing in my head, but I couldn't be sure because he never told me his name…

"_Second message: Saturday 7:10 p.m. Your callback number is 555-3040." _Oh...he called again.

"This is Edward Cullen by the way…uhh ok bye…again.."

I was bouncing all around my bedroom when I heard that second voicemail! I even pushed my hamper over dumping all my clothes to the floor.

I rapidly dialed his number. It only took one ring.

"Hel- OW! Hello?" Edward answered.

"Hi Edward…its Bella Swan…"my heart was beating about a bazillion miles a second.

I could tell he was smiling, "Hey! I was afraid your friend gave me a fake number."

I giggled, "Well she has done that before, but obviously not this time."

"Yeah looks like it.." he chuckled.

"So did the Forks carnival make a good first impression?" I asked.

"Surprisingly yes, I was afraid it would be lame but defiantly got proved wrong." I couldn't help but wonder if the hint in his voice was trying to tell me that _I_ was the reason the carnival wasn't so lame.

"Well I'm glad to hear that."

"So what did you do this evening?" _he _was wondering what _I_ did after the carnival? I couldn't believe it, that's basically all I had thought about since I had gotten home…_'I wonder what Edward is doing right now.'_

"Well, you weren't the only one that heard my friend, Rosalie, yell my phone number.."

"Oh…" did he sound…a little sad or disappointed?

"Yeah, creepers have been calling me all day to ask if I was working any other kissing booths anytime soon."

He laughed, and it was the most beautiful sound ever. My goal was to get him to laugh at least two more times during our conversation.

"Hey!! Is my misery amusing to you?" I asked trying to sound offended but a giggle slipped out.

He laughed again, (_Yes!!_) "No, I'm just picturing that kid that was behind me lecture you on how the kissing booth is supposed to work over the phone."

"No when he called he actually tried to call me 'sweet thang,' but I hung up before he finished."

"Oh man! _Haha-_I can't believe he-_hah!-_called you-_hahaha!" _he never did finish his sentence, but I didn't care, I reached my goal of making him laugh again.

"Wow, Bella I haven't laughed that hard in…forever!"

I snickered, "Glad to be of service then, ."

In the background I heard someone yell 'EDDIE!!'

"Sorry Bella but I have to go…I'll see you tomorrow though right?"

"Of course! I'll be your personal guide to Forks High!"

"Great! I'll see you later."

"Bye Edward."

"Bye Bella."

**Sooo? Let me know what you think!! Review Please!!**


	4. Alaska!

**A/N All of my readers should feel _very _important because I sped home after practice so I could update. **

**But school started today and it went pretty good...I shouldn't get a heavy load of homework until the week after next so i'll update every chance I get!!**

**Loved all your reviews last chapters!! And I love all my readers!!**

**Okay Chapter 3...**

EPOV

The next morning I woke up with my knee stained in black and blue. I tackled my phone when Bella called me and smacked my knee on the floor.

I climbed out of Emmett's monstrous jeep and instantly scanned the parking lot for Bella.

"Looking for someone are we?" Jasper teased from behind me.

"No…just taking in the…uhh layout...of the school..." I was usually very good at lying but not when it came to _her._

"Righhhht…" Emmett smirked.

Suddenly I heard a roar coming from the entrance of the parking lot. No one seemed bothered by it except for Emmett, Jasper, and me. The goofiest smile spread across my face when I saw who the driver was of the old beat up red truck.

Bella stepped out and pulled on her backpack as she made her way over the picnic tables under the covered area by the parking lot. She joined two girls that I recognized from the carnival. I started walking over there before I was yanked back by my shirt collar.

"What are you doing man?" Emmett asked confused.

"Going to say hi to a…uhh…friend.."

Jasper rolled his eyes at me. "Any chance this is your carnival friend?"

"Pshhh…Psh...No!" and then I quickly dashed off, weaving my way through the cars so they couldn't catch me.

I was about a yard away from her when my palms started sweating…_gross._

"Hey Bella!" I greeted her as I sat down.

"Hey! So are you ready for your first day?"

"Well, I feel better about it now that I know you'll keep me from getting lost." I flashed my famous crooked grin.

She laughed, "Yeah, it won't take you long to figure out where everything is though…the school isn't big at _all_!"

Then, I noticed the two girls she was sitting with were still there when the blonde one cleared her throat.

"Oh! Sorry…Rose, Alice, this is Edward Cullen. Edward, these are my best friends Rosalie Hale," she motioned to the blonde one, "and Alice Brandon." She said as she motioned to the short spiky haired girl.

I waved to them and they just smiled back.

Bella showed me to my first class, which luckily we had together. I took a seat by her and she introduced me to a few people sitting around us. I remember Ben Cheney and Angela Weber because we talked to them the most before class started.

"Everyone please welcome our new student, Edward Cullen, all the way from Alaska!"

All the students turned to me and waved or said 'hi.' Bella turned and stared at me in disbelief.

"What?"

"You're from Alaska?!"

"Yeah.." I wondered where she was going with this.

"Why did you move here? To _Forks _of all places?!"

I just shrugged because the teacher started her lesson.

I truthfully don't think there was an actual reason for our move, other than the fact that Esme wanted a change of scenery, but still wanted to live where it snowed.

The teacher dismissed class five minutes early so Bella asked for my schedule to see what other classes we had together.

"We have Biology and Math together, but that's it." We shared the same look of disappointment.

The rest of the day Bella walked me to all of my classes so I knew where they were. We learned a lot about the other as we talked the hallways, during lunch, and I even texted her during my study hall.

The day came to an end and I had to go home because of the massive amount of homework I received so I would be on the same page as the rest of my classes.

I got home and grudgingly started on my homework. I couldn't keep focused though. My thoughts kept wandering off to a conversation Bella and I had, or the sound of her laughs, and even our phone conversation last night.

I couldn't take it anymore! I pulled out my phone and texted her.

_Hey! Do the teachers always give out this much homework?_

**Haha no. Don't worry you'll get caught up eventually.**

I hope so…any idea what the definition of unkempt is? Lol

**I'm pretty sure it means messy or not clean. Hey! Do your own homework!**

Thanks :) Now I'm finished!

**Well good job you **_**almost**_** did it all by yourself!**

_:)…So what are you up to?_

Nothing too important. LolWell that sounds like fun!Oh it is…you should try it sometime :P

_Haha. I will…sometime._

**Lol ok…well I'm gonna go to bed. Night :)**

_Sweet Dreams :)_

That night I dreamt that I was walking down the hallways hand-in-hand with Bella, and she was _my _Bella.

**A/N Hope you liked it...I know its a little shorter than usual but next chapters are kinda long-ish :)**


	5. Secrets

**A/N Ok! I have a perfectly good explanation for why I have not updated in what? A week?!? WOW! that long...? But back to my excuse...lol**

**Our internet modem thing crashed for some reason and the guy just came and fixed it today. I AM SOOOOO SORRY!! While I couldn't get on the computer though I did write some pretty amazing chapters :P**

**But I have a shoutout to bittersweetazn!! She has a harry potter story up and you should all check it out!! its pretty sweet :)**

**Okay I'll finish this note after the chapter!!!**

**GO!! :)**

BPOV

I pulled into the school parking lot and parked next to the Cullen's humongous jeep. The three of them and Rose and Alice were already seated at one of the picnic tables.

"Hey!"

As soon as I spoke everyone abruptly stopped the conversation they were clearly in the middle of and turned towards me.

"What's going on…?"

I knew they wouldn't tell me, "Oh nothing…just uhh…talking about…" Alice was struggling with an explanation. _Great, it's about me…_

"…The gigantic amount of homework we had last night." Jasper finished for her.

Everyone followed his cover-up with a chorus of 'yeah yeah' and 'right'.

I wasn't going to fish for the truth so I just decided to change the subject. "Okay…so anyway, I was thinking we should all go to the game together this Friday." I said as I glanced at Edward.

"I call driving!!" Emmett yelled.

"Shotgun!!" Rosalie added.

She so liked Emmett. Rose never normally went after guys; they always just came to her.

"So we can all go together??" I asked for clarification.

"Heck yes!! It'll be like a mini road trip!!" Emmett was getting pretty excited.

The bell rang and I walked to class with Edward. I could hear Emmett singing as we walked away, "Get your motor runnin'...Head out on the highway...Lookin' for adventure...And whatever comes our way!!" I laughed as he hit the high note at the end.

"So…were you guys really talking about homework before I got there?" it really was bugging me that they didn't let me in on their little 'secret'.

Edward's face turmed a little pink, "Yeah, o-of course Bella…"we walked into the Biology room. "Hey Ben!" Edward practically sprinted over him.

Lying was not one of Edward's greatest talents. First he was staring at the floor, second he stuttered, and third he tried to ignore the topic.

_I will find out sooner or later…_I thought to myself as Mr. Banner started describing the lab we were doing during class.

The day went by and no one would tell me what they were talking about this morning. I almost got Alice to crack, but Rose kicked in the shin right as she started. I was a little frustrated with my 'friends'. What was so important that _I _wasn't allowed to know!

I saw Edward exit the gym and I tried to pretend like I didn't see him. I was trying to be mad at them, and if I got one look at his ridiculously handsome face I would instantly forgive him. But when he started calling out to me I had no choice. I put on my best poker face and turned around.

EPOV

I exited the gym, my last class of the day, and saw Bella walking towards her car. I wasn't about to let her leave without saying goodbye.

I didn't think she saw me so I tried to get her attention.

"Bella!"…but she kept walking.

"Bella!!"…still walking.

"Bella Swan!!!"

That got her to turn around. She gave me a not so nice glare. I knew this was about earlier at the picnic tables when we didn't tell her the truth about what we actually talking about. I wasn't planning on telling her that _my _brothers told _her_ best friends that 'I had the hots for Bella'. Emmett's words, not mine.

"Hello Edward." Oh yeah she was defiantly annoyed. She never said 'hello,' it was always a happy 'hi!' or 'hey!'

"Hey Bella…something wrong?"

"Nope." She popped the 'p' at the end. _Liar._

"Okay…well I'll see you tomorrow then."

She sighed, "Bye Edward." And gave me a small smile as she got in her truck.

I couldn't stand it! I hated that Bella was anything but happy to see me! I just wanted to pull her into a hug and confess how much I absolutely wanted to be with her.

I stormed over to Emmett who was talking to Alice and Rose. It was his fault anyway; he didn't have to bring up my _fondness _for Bella.

"Thanks a lot man! Bella is mad about this morning." I fumed.

He snickered, "Yeah I know, she gave me the stink eye earlier."

"Well your little plan to get us together won't work if she's angry at me!"

"Don't worry Edward, Bella won't be able to stay mad at _you._" Rosalie assured me. What did she mean by that?

"What?" I asked.

"Are you blind?! The girl practically swoons every time she looks at you!" Alice screeched.

"No way." I did not notice 'swooning' of any kind when I was around Bella.

"Way." Emmett smirked.

I just rolled my eyes and got in the jeep. The whole ride home I was debating on whether or not to text Bella. It was hard not having any connection to her for long periods of time. I know it sounds pathetic, but I'm always happier around her.

I walked inside my house and flopped on the couch.

"How was school dear?" my mother asked.

"Fine." I huffed.

"What happened?"

"Emmett is stupid." I sounded like a five year old.

"Oh my, what did he do now?"

I chuckled grimly, "He just has to open his big mouth! All. The. Time."

"Just text her already you big baby!" Emmett yelled from the kitchen.

I gave Esme an annoyed look.

She patted my shoulder, "I'll go talk to him." And then left the room.

"So have you called her yet…what'd she say??" Emmett smiled from the doorway.

"Like I'm going to tell you!" I sneered back.

"Come on! I practically set you two up in the beginning!"

"What?? No you didn't I met her at the carnival and Rosalie gave me her number."

"But _I _made you get in the kissing booth line." He argued.

"Technically its Mom _made_ us go to the carnival, so really she should get most of the credit."

"Credit for what?" Esme asked as she walked towards us.

"Uhh..uhm.." I didn't want to tell her about my insane crush on Bella, which would be kind of awkward talking about that with her.

But Emmett had to open his ginormous mouth. Again. "For introducing Edward to Bella Swan."

"The chief's daughter?" she asked.

Emmett nodded his head proudly.

"I'm confused…" she wondered out loud.

"It's actually pretty simple," Jasper added. Where the heck did he come from? "Edward and Bella met at the carnival, more specifically the kissing booth-"

"Ohhhhh…" my Mother interrupted smiling at me.

"After Edward kissed her we walked away and her friend yelled out Bella's number to him to call her."

"And…" Esme was not one to only get half the story.

"And," Emmett started from where Jasper left off, "they both totally hit it off and neither of them are smart enough to see how much they like one another!" he threw his hands up in the air dramatically.

"I see…" she turned to me as I buried my face in my hands. "Edward, if what your brothers say is true then you have to tell her now, or you may regret it when someone else snatches her up. From what I hear she's quite a catch."

I gave her a funny look, "What do you mean 'from what you've heard?'"

"Well according to some of the mothers from the Activity Committee, you aren't the only one who has a _huge_ crush on Bella." She smiled apologetically.

"Man, you better hurry before someone else asks her out." Jasper warned me before leaving the room with Esme and Emmett.

I had to talk to her and hint to her _somehow_ that I liked her.

I rewrote the text about five times before I sent it.

**Hey Bella.**

_Hey._

**So…what are you doing?**

_Nothing too important…again lol._

I smiled. This was good, she said lol…maybe she's not mad anymore.

**Haha. You do that a lot.**

_Yeah…so what are you doing?_

**Sitting on my couch.**

_Lol that's cool…so are you excited for the big 'road trip' :)?_

Yes!! Perfect opportunity for a "hint."

**Totally haha. You should sit with by me on the way there…**

I hit send and immediately regretted it. What if she said she didn't want to sit by me?

_Okay :)_

I did a 'yes!!' gesture with my arms when I read what she sent back. I must have been on the edge of the couch because when I did this, the next thing I knew, I landed on the floor with a loud 'thud!'

**A/N** **Alright...so things are starting to maybe happen with BxE?? This isn't my favorite chapter but I needed it to get to the better ones...and trust me i plan on this story getting wayyy better and the chapters longer (remember i'm new to all this fanfic stuff so bare with me as i figure it all out) :)**

**So let me know what you think!!** **I love love love all the great reviews!!! We're at 40!!! :) :) :) My goal is at least 200 by the end of the story...lol i know thats a big goal but i like a challenge haha! But we are no where near the end people!!!**

**lleighh;; :)**


	6. Road Trip!

**A/N Hey!! not much to say so...**

**Ready...and read!! :)**

BPOV

It was finally Friday and the bell just rang ending school for the day.

I quickly waved bye to my friends and rushed home to drop off my school bag before the boys came and picked me up.

I heard Emmett honking outside my house and I cheerfully skipped out the door. I was more excited for the ride there than the actual game. When Edward asked me to sit beside him I did the same happy dance my mom used when she told us about the kissing booth.

I hopped in the passenger side and saw Edward smiling beside me.

We went and picked up Alice and Rose next. Once we were out of Forks I felt a sense of freedom. There were no adults or annoying people from our school. Just _us._

Emmett was complaining that our road trip couldn't be complete without car games so he suggested we play "Would you Rather." Alice was first to ask someone, so naturally she asked Jasper.

"Jazzy," I silently aww'd in my head, I could tell Jasper was already falling for her by his reaction to the new nickname, "would you rather, be a dog named Princess or a cat named Fluffy." She giggled.

Jasper groaned, "I guess a cat named Fluffy because I would never answer to Princess." Alice giggled again, causing me to giggle at her, and then everyone else laughed at how we couldn't _stop_ giggling.

It was Jaspers turn, "Bella," I was pretty surprised he chose me, I thought it would be Emmett, "would you rather be asked to a dance by Emmett or Edward." He smirked.

What?!?! I _cannot_ answer that question!! It would totally show Edward how much I liked him, not to mention embarrass myself because I was pretty positive he just thought of me as his best friend that's a girl.

I saw Edward glare at everyone in the car, but then turned to me with curious eyes. Of course, my face turned beet red.

"You have to answer Bella." Rose broke the silence.

I shot death rays at her, she knew how I felt about Edward, and how I thought it would ruin our friendship (which, if I may add is relatively new so anything could make it uncomfortable enough where we might never be able to speak again.)

"Fine. If I had to choose, I would choose Edward." I tried to come across confident in my answer.

Everyone, including Edward, just sat there staring and smiling at me. It got kind of creepy so I continued our game.

"Uhhh…okay! Emmett, would you rather be born with an elephant trunk, or a giraffe neck?"

"Defiantly the elephant trunk!! Can't they pick up really heavy stuff with that thing?"

I just laughed and nodded. The rest of the ride we rocked out to any good songs that came on the radio, and made plans for the weekend. Every now and then though, one of them would turn to me and smile as they looked between Edward and I.

We got to the football field and found a spot on the third row of the bleachers. Not too long after we sat down Emmett and Jasper asked if anyone wanted anything from the concession stand. Edward asked for popcorn, and I wanted some M&Ms. Before Rose or Alice let them know what they wanted Jasper pulled them off their seats.

"Um, we may need help carrying everything so you two come with us…"

I watched them walk away and then I realized it was just Edward and I. Alone. Awkward…

"Soo…you would really rather go to a dance with me?" he smirked.

I blushed, "Yeah, Emmett doesn't strike me as the best dance partner.."

We were both facing the field and he leaned into my ear and whispered, "I would have picked you too."

I smiled as my face changed five different shades of red and my heart was beating out of my chest, "Well, I would hope you would choose me and not Emmett, I mean taking your brother as your date…that's really weird…"

He chuckled and then nudged my side, "You know that's not what I meant."

My smile grew and two more shades of red flashed across my face.

The other four came back with the food, I noticed only two of them carried anything, and the game started.

Our team won 28-14 and we were still celebrating when we climbed into the jeep.

It was around 9:30 when the game ended and Emmett was complaining about how hungry he was so we stopped at McDonalds.

"That was the best game ever!!" Emmett boomed once he sat down with his big mac, french fries, chicken nuggets, and a milkshake.

"Wow, hungry much?" Jasper teased.

"I told you I didn't have a big lunch!" Emmett defended back, mouth full of fries.

One of them flew out of his mouth and landed on top of Edward's head. We all doubled over in laughter because Edward had no idea there was chewed food in his hair.

"What?" he asked.

I got up and grabbed some napkins and went over to his seat.

"Don't move Edward." I giggled.

"What's goi-"

I cut him off, "It's best if you don't know right now, just hold still."

"Okay.." he agreed, still clueless to what we were all still laughing at.

I picked up the chunk of french fry in one napkin and then wiped off the little pieces with the other. I so badly wanted to run my fingers through his hair. It looked so soft and perfect in its disarray.

I decided I needed to check if there were any more chunks of fries in his hair. I smiled seeing the only way to do that was to run a hand through his perfect bronze locks.

It was even softer than I thought and I swear I heard him make a noise. It sounded like a cross between a hum and a sigh. I quickly pulled my hand away and held it behind my back.

"Okay Edward, the thing was that Emmett accidentally spat food at you and I wanted to get it out before it got all stuck and made a mess." _And as an excuse to touch your gorgeous hair_, I added to myself.

"Oh." Was all he replied.

We watched Emmett practically inhale the burger and chicken nuggets. Then he decided to play in the ball pit inside the play area. He got Rose to join him and then one of the workers kicked us out because they started having a ball fight.

We rode back in silence; I'm guessing everyone was just tired from our day. My eyelids started to get heavy and I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew someone was carrying me up a flight of stairs.

I looked up and I could still make out his face in the dark night air.

"Edward?"

"Hey sleepy head."

"Where are we?"

"Your house silly." Oh. He was carrying me upstairs at _my_ house.

"Why are you carrying me?" not that I was complaining…

"I tried to wake you up in the car but you just kept saying 'its not time yet!'" he chuckled.

"Oh, yeah…I tend to talk in my sleep " we reached my room and he laid me on my bed.

"So I've seen." He smirked. "Goodnight Bella." He said as he started towards my door.

"Goodnight Edward."

"Sweet Dreams…" was the last thing I heard before his footsteps trailed down the stairs and out the door.

EPOV

It took all that I had to not climb into Bella's bed with her. Not in a bad way, but when we were in the car she had her head rested on my shoulder and weaved her fingers through mine. The closeness just felt so right.

About a half hour after she fell asleep she started mumbling.

"Don't worry, she always talks in her sleep, its pretty funny actually." Rose informed me.

Nothing was funny about the next thing she said though. It wasn't a mumble this time either. She spoke crystal clearly:

"Edward…"

My heart shifted into overdrive, and I had to look around at the other four in the car for reassurance that I wasn't just hallucinating or something.

"Did she just...?" Alice asked shocked.

"I TOLD YOU EDDIE!! SHE TOTALLY LIKES YOU!!" Emmett hollered.

"Shutup!! You'll wake her!" I hissed back.

Bella tightened her hold on my hand, "Edward…_my_ Edward."

This time Rosalie whipped around in her seat to face us. "Man! She's never confessed anything like _this_ in her sleep before…" mimicking the same shocked face Alice was still sporting.

Bella tightened her hold on my hand, and I watched her sleep hoping she thought of me as her Edward when she was conscious too.

**A/N ....soo?? Things are starting to unravel...but not just yet, hold tight they won't be a couple for a little while...i have the whole story planned out and _I_ think its a pretty good plot timeline thingy and I hope you all do too!!**

**Please review!! I want to know what you guys think so I don't continue to write a crappy story if you guys don't like it...and I LOVE when people tell me they really liked it haha!! :)**


	7. Mudding

**A/N Okay so my friends and I go mudding all the time and its so much fun!! But if you try it make sure you have someone who drives well and knows how to do all the cool tricks like doughnuts and stuff...its makes it wayy more fun! :P**

**And everyone go check out my favorited stories!! They are all AMAZING!!**

BPOV

I woke up the next morning feeling…cold. Last night in the car I had fallen asleep next to Edward and he had carried me to my room once we got home. I missed having his hand in mine and being wrapped in his arms.

I laughed…like he would really be interested in me.

I got up and pulled on a pair of jeans, a plain white t-shirt and my navy blue jacket.

Rose and Alice would be here soon to pick me up so we could meet the guys at their house. Apparently they had to get a couple things to get ready for the "fun" activity they had planned today. I kept bugging Edward to tell me what we would be doing but he always answered, "Don't worry about it." Emmett told me that it was nothing any of us girls had done though. That worried me.

I hopped in the backseat behind Alice when they got to my house and we made our way to the Cullen's.

Their house was incredible!! It was a couple miles out of Forks and hidden behind a thick curtain of trees. It resembled a modern version of a castle. It was perfect.

Rosalie pulled up in front of the garage as the door was lifting.

"HEY!" Emmett waved.

As soon as I got out of the car Edward peeked his head around from the back of the jeep.

"Hey Bella." He winked and started walking over to me.

"Edwardd.." I whined," are you going to tell me what we're doing yet?"

"Nope," and then flashed a toothy grin at me.

"Ugh…boys." I mumbled.

"Alright troops file in!" Emmett ushered us in the Jeep.

Rose took shotgun beside Emmett, followed by Edward and me in the middle and Jasper and Alice in the back.

Edward started buckling a whole bunch of straps around me.

"What is all this?"

"It's just the off-roading harness."

"Off-roading?!" I gaped at him.

"Relax, I wouldn't put you in any danger Bella…besides, that's what the harness is for."

"Alright Cullen, I'm trusting you." I shot him a stern look.

He quickly strapped on his own harness and told Emmett we were ready to go.

"So where are we off-roading to?" Alice asked.

"We're not really off-roading, it's more like mudding." Emmett answered.

"Huh?" all three of us girls faced him confused.

"What is mudding? I will _not_ be participating if you plan on getting me all muddy!" Rose shouted at Emmett.

"Chill girls! Mudding is when you stay _inside_ the jeep and we drive down some muddy roads and…it's hard to explain, just wait and see but I promise you won't get dirty."

"Okay good." Rose sighed, relieved.

Emmett drove into the forest until we were met by a series of goopy brown paths.

"Everyone ready?" Emmett turned around in his seat.

I gulped, "Mhmm…"

Edward and Jasper were just casually sitting in their seats like it was nothing, while Alice clung to Jasper's arm, I made sure my harness was fastened, and Rose nervously scanned the pathway we would be driving around on soon.

Emmett slammed on the gas and we shot forward, he turned the wheel sharply to the left and the back end whipped to the right. Then our speed increased as we climbed a fairly large hill, we reached the top going about 85 mph and started to descend. Emmett hit the brakes abruptly and the Jeep started swerving and turning every way. I quickly shut my eyes so I at least couldn't watch Emmett attempt to murder us all.

I felt the Jeep come to a stopped and I opened one eye looking around. All three of the Cullen boys were hysterically laughing while Alice and Rose were in similar positions as myself.

I looked down and noticed I had latched my hand around Edward's. I blushed for a second before I realized what we had just done.

"ARE YOU FREAKING INSANE!?!" I screamed.

They all just kept laughing and wiped the tears from their eyes.

"SERIOUSLY YOU COULD HAVE FLIPPED THE DAMN THING!!" Rosalie added.

They laughed harder.

Alice tried to get their attention, "GET OUT OF THE DRIVER'S SEAT EMMETT! I'M TAKING US BACK NOW!"

That did it.

"No way Alice." Emmett suddenly turned serious.

"Come on, girls you have to admit that was fun." Jasper tried to calm us down.

"Yeah and plus you should have-_haha-_seen your-_hahaha-_faces-_ha_!" Edward wasn't helping.

I turned to Alice and Rose and gave them the 'look' notifying them to start the silent treatment. They gave me a nod and we all turned to face forward.

"So you thought it was fun right?" Jasper asked.

"…"

"Did you at least think it was entertaining?" he tried again.

"…."

"Really that bad?" this time it was Edward, and he grabbed my hand rubbing circles on the back of it. It took all of me to not forgive him right there.

"….."

"Girls?" Emmett waved a hand in front of Rose's face.

"First of all," Rosalie spoke up, "I do not appreciate you waving your big hand half an inch from my face," as she slapped it away. "Second, that _wasn't_ very fun because we had no idea what the heck you were doing!"

Edward still had my hand in his and I swiftly pulled it away and gave him a 'what she said' nod.

"I told you it wouldn't be dangerous Bella." He said softly.

"Yes you did but you could have at least warned me what was coming."

He just looked at me apologetically.

"Can we please just get out of here now?" Alice asked a little annoyed.

"Sure thing." Emmett pulled out of the muddy trail and we all sat silently looking ahead on the way back to their house.

We parked in the garage. There was a beautiful woman standing by the entrance to the house who I assumed was Edward's mother.

Edward silently unbuckled all the clasps from the harness for me and I bolted out the door of the death trap I used to call the Jeep.

"Hello dear, you must be Bella." Edward's mother came towards me.

"Yes, hi ." I shyly waved.

"Oh please call me Esme," she waved her hand dismissively "Isn't your mother on the activity committee with me, Renee?"

"Yes that's her." I smiled.

"I thought so," she seemed to be thinking about something else but quickly changed the subject. "So where did the boys take you?"

By this time Rose and Alice had joined me.

"They decided it was a good idea to go mud-roading or something like that." Alice answered before me.

"MUDD-ING!" Emmett corrected from the other side of the death trap.

"Oh my! And you agreed?" She asked shocked.

This time Rose answered, "No they didn't actually tell us what was going on!" she yelled over her shoulder towards them.

"Emmett Dale! Jasper Kyle! And Edward Anthony! Get yourselves over here now!" She called.

They quietly shuffled over to stand in front of Esme.

"Did you tell these girl what exactly mudding entailed before you _showed_ them?"

"No…" they all said together staring at their shoes.

I looked at Alice and Rose and they were smirking at the boys.

Serves them right! They should have at least warned us we would be sliding all over the place…

"Have you apologized to them yet?" Esme asked.

"Sorry…" they replied still studying the floor.

"Look them in the eyes and say it like you mean it boys." Esme scolded.

They looked up and it was so hard not to laugh. They reminded me of when a little kid got caught stealing the last cookie or feeding their vegetables to the dog.

"Sorry girls." They said together once again.

I sighed, "I guess I forgive you…but only if you promise to always tell us _exactly_ what you are planning from now on."

"Fine…" they all huffed and filed inside.

As soon as the door clicked, informing us it had closed, all four of us burst into hysterics.

"Esme, that was hilarious!" Alice praised her in a squeaky voice, still laughing.

**A/N Next chapter is ice cream store and going to the mall. Hint: They are actually at th emall for specific reasons (they need to buy appropriate "attire" for this event lol) if anyone can guesses right what the girls are there for and what the guys are there for then next chapter will have a preview of something later on in the story :) (Hint: the guys and girls are shopping for the same event)**

**Please Review!! :) :) :)**

** lleighh;;**


	8. Where's Bella?

**A/N My longest chapter yet! 3,091 words!! I hope to start making all my chapter this long just fyi :)**

**...so A LOT happens in this chapter and its my favorite chapter so far because this is when things finally start picking up and get interesting!!**

**Okay...real quick before i let you read, styx18 guessed right!! They're going to a dance so I will post the teaser chapter tomorrow...i won't have time to update a reg. chapter because i'll be doing labor day stuff for cheerleading and won't have time...sorry :(**

**But on with Chapter 7! :)**

EPOV

I was mortified. But at least Emmett and Jazz were in the same boat.

I can't believe our mother, in front of the girls we were trying to impress, just yelled at us!

After we took our walk of shame into the house I heard faint laughter coming from the garage…great. Then the four of them appeared in the kitchen with looks on their faces that meant business.

"You boys are going to take the girls out for ice cream…now."

"Yes ma'am," we replied in unison as the girls snickered.

We all climbed into the 'death trap' as Bella had started calling it, but Rosalie was driving. It was actually part of our punishment. It didn't affect Jasper and me as much as it did Emmett. Rosalie literally had to yank the keys from Emmett's death grip on them.

We got to the ice cream shop and ordered. Rosalie got blueberry cheesecake (blegh!), Alice got rocky road, Bella got death by chocolate, Emmett got plain vanilla, which surprised me, but all he replied was 'gotta love the classics brother'. Jasper got chocolate chip, and I ordered mint chocolate chip (yum!).

"How can you eat that?" Bella eyed my ice cream in disgust.

I just shrugged, "It tastes good."

She smiled and rolled her eyes at me.

Alice leaned over and whispered in my ear, "I wouldn't eat that if you planned on getting a kiss from Bella." then fell into a fit of giggles. Everyone turned and stared at us, but I just mouthed 'crazy' with the little hand gesture causing everyone else to laugh hysterically.

When we dropped off Bella she waved to everyone and then turned and gave me a smile, which made my heart flutter a little, before she went inside.

We had to drop Rose off last because she refused to let an 'Idiotic Cullen' behind the wheel and kill her and her best friends.

Before she hopped out of the Jeep she turned to me and softly said, "She really does like you Edward, I can tell."

Then she left! Leaving me with a million and three questions! Who does that?

We got home and I went straight to my room, collapsed on my bed, and had the best night of sleep filled with dreams of Bella, but instead of her being my Bella, this time I was _her _Edward.

I woke up to my phone beeping.

_Hey Edward, did I leave my jacket in the death trap or your house?_

**Yeah it was in the **_**Jeep!**_

_Don't blame me for that nickname you guys brought it on yourselves._

**You loved mudding, admit it!**

_I won't because I didn't!_

**Did too!**

_Did not!_

**You did!**

_Did NOT!_

**Alright, probably not, but you will the next time!**

_Next time?! You have got to be crazy thinking I will get in that DEATH TRAP with one of you Cullens behind the wheel!_

**I'm hurt Bells… :(**

_I bet you are…_

**I am.**

_Are not._

**Am.**

_Not._

**Am too!**

_Are not!_

**Okay I'm not but I really am sorry about the whole thing.**

_I believe that._

**Really?**

_Really._

**Okay good.**

_:)_

**So what are you doing today?**

_Ugh…shopping for winter formal dresses with A and R._

**Winter Formal?**

_Yeah it's basically the biggest dance besides prom._

**Oh. When is it?**

_1 week._

**Okay. Hey I guess I'll see you at the mall because I just told Emmett and he's freaking out about not having anything to wear. Lol**

_See you there Edward :)_

**Bye Bella.**

We arrived at the mall and started looking for our dresses. It's an unspoken rule when we go shopping that we always pick things for each other to try on first, and then we go look for ourselves.

That's always my favorite part because I find it difficult to shop for myself. I always have more fun finding things for Alice or Rose; they are basically the opposite of me. Alice likes anything pink or lime green with ruffles and bows. Rose likes red or black dresses that show some skin, and are very detailed on the back of the dress. I like simple but beautiful and anything blue.

Just then Alice came skipping towards me with arms full of dresses and accessories. I couldn't even see her face. She peeked around the pile and smiled at me.

"I am confident that I have the perfect dress for you in here!" she squealed, "But I'm saving it for last so you can try on some of these other ones just for fun."

I just laughed, of course we would play dress up. I grabbed the things I pulled for my friends followed her towards the dressing rooms.

We would all change in our dressing rooms until we were all ready, then Alice would count to three and we would all exit our rooms and catwalk down the hallway. I tried on a countless number of dresses, but none of them really screamed out to me as "the one." Alice finally handed me the last dress and informed me I wasn't allowed to look in the mirror until after she saw it on me.

I waited until Alice squealed "One, two, THREE!" and entered the hallway.

Rose was wearing a pinkish-burgundy strapless dress. It was beautiful, and actually one that I picked out for her. It had a cluster of silver diamonds and gemstones at the waistline and the dress hit right at her knees. The top had ruffles that fanned out as you looked down the dress.

Alice had a powder pink dress that was also strapless. I was a little surprised because she usually doesn't pick things as simple as this was. It had a sweetheart neckline and a bow that tied around her middle. The neckline of her dress was detailed with overlapping layers of the same fabric as her dress. She looked like a little fairy.

Alice was in mid-happy dance when she got my attention, "Bella! Go look at yourself!"

I walked over to the three-fold mirror. The dress was amazing. It was a royal blue silk dress that came just above my knee. It had very detailed gold beading on the top half but didn't take over the dress. This was it!

"Ohmygosh! I love it!" I turned to my two best friends beaming.

"I told you! Edward is going to be floored when he sees you next Saturday!" Alice smirked.

I just blushed and changed the subject. "So which dresses are you guys choosing?"

"I'm going to stick with this one," Rosalie informed me, "Bella how do you manage to always find the perfect thing for everyone other than yourself?"

"Just a gift I guess…"I smiled at Rose.

"This is _the_ dress! Edward won't be the only one dazzled by his date…" Alice trailed off. _Wait…what?_

"What did you just say Alice?" I gave her a puzzled look and noticed Rosalie's eyes widen.

"N-n-nothing, I said uhh…Edward might be…f-frazzled…if he's late?" It came out as more of a question, which confused me even more.

_Why would Edward be late?? Why did Alice even care?_

"Yeah…uh… you know Edward, always has to be early." Rose laughed nervously.

"Okayyy…" They totally lost me after frazzled. "I don't get what you guys are talking about."

"Oh um nothing just thinking out loud…" Alice said as she rushed back into her dressing room.

I quickly changed and made my way up to the checkout to pay for my dress. Alice and Rose got in line behind me.

"So Bella, anyone ask you to the dance yet?" Rose asked.

"Actually yes, but not who I wanted to…"

"Who asked you?"

"Tyler Crowley…I told him that I would think about it and made some lame excuse about not being able to dance and walked away."

"Why did you say no? You know he has liked you since the 5th grade and he's not too bad to look at either." I could tell where this was going, Rose was trying to get me to admit I was waiting for Edward to ask me.

"Because…I don't know…I was hoping…maybe…Edwardwasgoingtoaskme…" I smushed the last words together hoping that she wouldn't be able to understand me.

"Oh I see," she smirked, "Want me to give a little hint to him?"

"No! Rose! Then he'll know I like him!"

"Isn't that the point??" she asked clearly not understanding.

"No. He can't know I have some crazy crush on him, it'll creep him out!" I huffed and walked up to the sales clerk.

I thought I heard her murmur something along the lines of, "It would probably do the exact opposite…" but that didn't make sense, so I just ignored her and paid for my dress.

EPOV

"Eddie, come on!! I don't want to get to the mall and find everything gone!!" Emmett was going to drive me nuts. He freaked out when I told him there was a dance next weekend and he had nothing to wear that would 'impress Rosie.'

I was just walking out the door when he started hollering for me.

"I'm coming!! Jeez Em you just need to get a shirt."

"Not just _a_ shirt! A shirt that will make Rosalie fall in love with me!" He smirked.

"Because that's exactly what will make or break your chance with Rose…a shirt." Jasper added sarcastically.

We arrived at the mall and noticed Rosalie's red convertible parked in front of Macy's. Emmett pulled in right beside her and hopped out. He was basically sprinting towards the entrance.

"So I asked Alice to the dance…" Jasper told me as we crossed the parking lot.

"When?"

"When we went out for ice cream. You all had already gotten your cones and sat down so when we were waiting for ours I just…asked her."

"How did you know about it?! I just found out there was a dance this morning!"

"There are posters all around the school dude!"

"Oh…" I should pay more attention…

"Yeah, but your actually the only one who knows, Alice wanted to keep it a secret from Bella and Rose until you and Emmett asked them."

"What?"

"Well I know Emmett's going to ask Rosalie. And we assumed you were going to ask Bella…do you not want to??"

"No! Of course I do! I just…do you think she wants to go with me?"

"Edward!" He slapped the back of my head, "Are you stupid?!"

"Ow! I didn't think I was."

"I'm pretty sure she likes you man, I heard she turned down Tyler on Friday."

"Tyler asked her?" I felt rage towards him; he was not allowed to ask out _soon-to-be-my_ Bella!

"Yeah but she told him she'd think about it. You better hurry and ask her before someone else does."

"Okay…I'm going to find her!" With that I ran off towards Macy's even faster than Emmett had.

I burst thought the doors and got a couple glares from the sales people. I caught a glimpse of Rosalie and Emmett and raced over towards them.

"Yes!!" I heard Rose shriek, as I got closer and Emmett pulled her into a bear hug.

"What are you guys doing?" I asked as I approached them.

"I'm going to the dance with Rosie!!" Emmett sang.

"Oh well congratulations, anyway, Rose where is Bella?" I didn't have time to celebrate with them I needed to find her.

"I think she went to the shoe department with Alice…why?" she asked smiling.

"Because…I don't want her to go to the dance with Tyler…" I mumbled.

"What? Edward I don't think I heard you." Ugh, girls!

"I want to ask Bella to the dance!" I practically yelled at her.

"It's about time! I've been waiting for you to make a move since forever!" she yelled back.

"Yeah, but do you think she'll say yes?" the nerves were starting to get to me.

"I guess you'll just have to ask her and see." She said still smiling.

"Yeah but I don't want to embarrass myself…she's the coolest, most amazing, beautiful girl I've ever met…I don't think I would take the rejection from her well…"

"Eddie, come on!!" Emmett boomed, "Just do it! You'll never know exactly what she'd say unless you actually ask her!"

"Fine…I'm going!" I yelled back as I ran towards the shoes.

BPOV

I had just purchased some gold heels that matched my dress when I heard the front entrance doors of Macy's burst open. I saw a flash of bronze hair as it flew by. Edward.

I saw him run towards a very ecstatic looking Emmett and Rose. He looked like he was yelling at them so I made my way over to see what was going on. I maneuvered through the men's suit section, and was hidden behind a curtain of ties when I heard them talking.

"Yeah, but do you think she'll say yes?" Edward asked. _Yes? Yes to what?_

"I guess you'll just have to ask her and see." Rosalie replied.

"Yeah but I don't want to embarrass myself…she's the coolest, most amazing, beautiful girl I've ever met…I don't think I would take the rejection from her well…" My heart sank, of course Edward found someone amazing to ask to the dance. He wouldn't want to go with normal just-a-friend Bella.

"Eddie, come on!!" Emmett boomed, "Just do it! You'll never know exactly what she'd say unless you actually ask her!"

"Fine…I'm going!" He yelled as I heard his footsteps race away.

I fell to the floor and sat there staring at the brown carpet. I must have sat there for at least ten minutes when my phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey Bella it's me…Tyler."

"Oh hey Tyler…what's up?" I tried to sound happy, but I don't think I did a very good job.

"Nothing…I was just...uh…wondering if you thought...about my offer? You know…be my date to the dance?"

I sat there for a second and actually thought about it. _Edward was going with someone else. Tyler is your friend, it couldn't hurt to say yes. Plus, you don't want to look like a loser without a date…_

"Yes. Yes, I'll be your date to the dance."

"That's great Bella!!" I couldn't help but smile at how happy I made him.

"Hey, I'd really like to talk but Alice and Rose are waiting for me so I'll see you at school tomorrow?"

"Of course Bella. See you!"

"Bye" I hung up and then dialed Rose's number.

"Hey Bella where are you?"

"I said yes to Tyler." I just blurted it out.

"What??"

"Yeah, I decided that he's a good guy and everything so why not?" I didn't want to tell her I heard the three of them talking about whoever Edward was planning on asking.

"Okay…if that's really who you want to go with…"

"It is." _Except I really hoped Edward liked me enough to ask me_…I silently added in my head.

"Well, we're all at the food court so are you on your way?"

"Yeah, I'm coming…" I hung up and pulled myself off the floor.

EPOV

I got to the shoes but didn't see Bella anywhere, so I called Alice hoping they were still together.

"Hey!" Alice greeted me, "So have you asked Bella yet?"

"No I'm trying to find her right now…how did you know about that?"

"Jazz told me." Figures.

"Do you know where she is?"

"I haven't seen her, but come to the food court, Rose and Em are on there way and I'll call Bella and tell her to meet us."

"Okay. Bye."

I power walked over to the food court, because I got too many funny looks when I ran. I go there and saw Rosalie talking to someone on the phone.

I sat down and she gave me an apologetic look. _What was that for?_

"What??…Okay…if that's really who you want to go with…"

I wondered who she was talking to. Whoever it was I could tell she wasn't happy with whatever decision they made.

"Well, we're all at the food court so are you on your way?"

My breath caught. We were waiting on Bella to join us. Was that her on the phone? What was she talking about 'who you want to go with'?

Rose closed her phone and whispered something to Alice.

"No!" Alice whisper yelled.

Rosalie just nodded her head and then turned towards me.

"Edward…I need to talk to you…" this did not sound good.

She led me over to the railing where you could see the first floor. She had a pained look in her eyes.

"Edward, I'm so sorry…but Bella said yes to Tyler."

It was a good thing I was holding on the to bar because I don't know if my legs would have held me up. _She said yes to him? Why?_

"Why?" I finally found my voice.

"I don't know she just told me that he was a good guy and she decided she would be his date…" she put her head down and studied the floor, "I thought she wanted to go with you…honestly."

"Its okay Rose, this isn't your fault…I should've asked her sooner…"

"Edward, you know she likes you. Remember when she said your name in her sleep!"

"Yeah but she could have been dreaming about anything…"

"You still should ask Bella to be your date!"

"But she's with Tyler…"

"She'll say yes to you Edward! I know she will!"

"No Rose, she wants to go with Tyler, otherwise she wouldn't have said yes to him." I tried to sound like I was okay, but it was getting harder as I saw her walking towards the table.

"Alright…let's go eat then…" I followed Rose back and barely said two words to Bella the rest of the day.

**A/N Don't hate me...lol**

**Things will work out don't worry!**

**I wanted to thank all my readers/reviewers out there!! I love you guys!! I smile everytime I read a review and think that someone actually likes reading my nonsense :P**

**Please keep on reviewing!! :)**

**lleighh;;**


	9. Teaser Chapter

**A/N Hey guys!! I know your all worried about ExB but don't worry!! Remeber this is an Edward and Bella fic :)**

**Also I got a twitter just for my fanfiction account! Its www twitter com / lleighh, there's a link on my profile up by my profile picture!! That way I can update you guys on how much writing I got done and when I plan on updating...so follow me!! :)**

**-**This is a text message conversation between two people, who? I don't know… :)-

**-:-:-**

**Go outside.**

_What??_

**Do you trust me?**

_Yes…_

**Then walk out your front door.**

_Okay…now what?_

**Take fifteen steps to your right.**

_Done…now?_

**Turn around.**

BZZZZZ! BZZZZZ!

"Hold on…"

BZZ! BZZ! BZZ!

"Really?"

"Really Really…"

"Come here."

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

**A/N Sooo? whadya think?? We're not terribly far away from this scene :)**

**Let me know what you think happened!! Review!!**

**:)**

** lleighh;;**


	10. Miserable

**A/N Hey guys!!! So I know I didn't let Edward and Bella go to the dance together...and I'm sorry but its a very important part of the story!!**

**And on a happier note I reached 100 reviews!!! Thankyou everyone!! Just a hundred more and we meet my goal!!**

**I won't keep you any longer...**

EPOV

Monday morning…school…seeing Bella…with Tyler…crap.

I was lying in my bed just staring up at the ceiling. I didn't want to go to school and have to see Tyler and Bella together, happy.

I have seen a million and one movies where this happens to a guy and I always thought '_wow what a loser, just go out with someone else.'_ But it's not that simple. I know I'm going to see them and then kick myself for not asking Bella sooner. I should've told her how I felt about her and paid attention to the posters around school telling me there was a dance _to_ ask her to!

I was thinking about playing hooky when someone knocked on my door.

"Hey…you okay?" I had barely talked to anyone since yesterday at the mall, I knew they all were worried about me, but I didn't want to say anything…except to Bella about how much I wanted to be with her. _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_

"Yeah…I guess I have to be." I answered shrugging.

"Look, I know this is hard for you, but you need to snap out of it and look around. Bella likes you! I don't see how you're so blind to that fact! The rest of us talk about you two all the time-"

"That makes me feel better…" I snorted.

"Edward…tell her."

"I can't Jazz!" I yelled, he was starting to piss me off, what is he trying to do telling me that Bella feels the same? If she didn't like Tyler she wouldn't of said yes to him!

"And why the hell not?" he was even angrier than me Jasper never curses. "Because then things between you and Bella might actually be normal? Because then you might actually be happy? She might be happy?!"

"She _is_ happy!! With stupid Tyler Crowley!"

"No she's not!! I want you to come to school today and just watch her…she's not the same, Alice told me that she even locked herself in her room yesterday and never came out. She's not okay man, and I know you're the only one who can fix that."

"How do you know that?!" How did everyone apparently know all this about Bella and I didn't??

"Because you two are meant for each other! I have no other way to explain it to you, but you just fit together!"

"What is all the yelling?! I still had ten minutes!" Emmett scolded from my doorway.

"Edward won't admit to himself that he and Bella should be together." Jasper filled him in.

Emmett's face softened and he looked at me, "Edward, didn't you see her yesterday? When you wouldn't even look at her. She was crushed."

"Just leave…now. I have to get ready for school." I didn't want to discuss this topic anymore.

Jasper and Emmett shuffled out of my room and I started getting ready for the worst day of my life.

BPOV

My alarm went off and I groaned as it pulled me from my dream. It was Edward and I at the Winter formal. We were dancing and he asked me to be his girlfriend. Then right before he kissed me, I woke up.

I debated staying home from school today. I didn't have anything major going on in my classes except for a lab in Biology…with Edward. Crap. All the more reason to stay home.

I don't think I could face Tyler today either. He was just so happy and excited for the Saturday and I didn't want anything to do with him. It made me feel guilty that I only said yes to him because he was my 'plan B.' I sighed, _If only plan A had worked out…_

My phone started ringing, it was Alice.

"Hello?"

"Hey Bella…are you almost ready?"

"I don't think I'll make it to school today Alice…"

"Why not?"

"I just don't feel all that great." It wasn't a lie, I felt like horrible. Just not in the way you would have to skip school for.

"Oh…Okay, I hope you feel better…" She knew I could have come to school, but she was too nice to call me out on it.

"Would you mind getting my work for me?" I hated to ask seeing how I could very well make it through a school day but then I would have something to occupy my thoughts tonight.

"Of course. I'll see you after school."

"Thanks, bye Alice."

"Bye." I hung up and went downstairs to fake cramps so my dad would let me stay home. My mom left earlier for a meeting and this always worked with Charlie, he was too embarrassed about the topic of 'cramps' to fight me about school.

EPOV

When we got to school I saw Alice and Rose sitting at the usual picnic table, but no Bella. Emmett, Jasper, and I walked over there and sat down.

"Hey." Alice and Rose both said to me carefully. They probably didn't know if I was okay or not.

"Bella's faking sick today." Rose said as she moved to go sit beside Emmett.

"Why?" I was curious, what was her reason for faking?

"She didn't tell me…" Alice answered me.

"Oh…you talked to her?" It killed me not talking or seeing Bella for so long, I was miserable, "Jazz told me she locked herself in her room…why did she do that?"

"I have no idea, but I called her earlier and that was the longest conversation I had with her since yesterday before lunch…"

"Oh." Was all I replied back. The bell rang and I went to class.

The whole day was uneventful. My classes were dull, and it seemed like everyone I talked to was utterly boring. I was on my way to the parking lot when a blonde girl I had in a few of my classes stopped in front of me.

"Hi, I'm Tanya, we have English and Math together." She smiled.

"Oh, yeah, Edward Cullen." I held out my hand and she took it.

Tanya looked me right in the eyes and said, "I want you to be my date for the winter formal…I won't take no for an answer…" she teased.

That made me smile a little, only because she had the same fake serious face as Bella.

"Sure, why not?"

"Great!! I'll talk to you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, see you tomorrow Tanya."

I walked to Emmett's Jeep and got in. I decided I better let them in on my new date to the dance, and I hoped they wouldn't freak out on me…

"So…funny thing happened to me today…I was walking down the hallway and Tanya…Denali? I think that's her last name, came up to me and asked me to the dance."

The Jeep halted to a stop and Jasper and Emmett turned around to gape at me.

"Tanya Denali is your _date_??" Emmett asked for clarification.

"Uhh…yeah that's what I just said."

"Why...? Why did you? Why?" This was a first; Emmett was at a loss for words.

"Well everyone else has a date! Am I not allowed or something?" I was surprised I was getting so mad about this…

"We just hoped that…" Jasper didn't finish his sentence.

"That I was going to ask Bella, and then get rejected?" I fumed.

"No man, not at all. I'm glad you have a date." Jasper concluded and turned back around.

He nudged Emmett, who still was staring at me in shock. "Yeah, that's great."

BPOV

I opened the door for Alice and Rose when they got to my house with all my work.

"Hey Bella! We didn't have much homework at all today, it was a good day to miss." Alice greeted me with a smile.

"Or skip…" I heard Rose say under her breath but I decided to ignore that.

"So we need to decide what all we're doing Saturday night!" Alice said excitedly.

"Well Tyler called a little bit ago and said he was going to pick me up around 8:30 since the dance starts at 9…"

"Okay, well we should get ready together at my house around five thirty then so we have plenty of time."

"Sounds good." I smiled at her and Rose.

"So are you excited?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, I guess…"

"You guess?"

"Well Tyler is nice and all but you know I wanted to go with Edward…"

"WHAT?!?!" they both screeched.

"You guys knew that! Why are you so surprised?"

Rose composed herself and asked, "Well what made you decide to say yes to Tyler and stop waiting for Edward?"

When she said that my heart fell to the pit of my stomach. I didn't feel like reliving that moment behind the ties in Macy's.

"When I heard you, Edward, and Emmett talking at the mall…" I said softly.

"When was that?" Alice questioned.

I took a deep breath, nearly on the verge of crying. "We had just bought our shoes and Jasper took you to the food court. I saw Edward run past me and towards Rose and Emmett. I started walking over towards them but stopped when I heard him telling them about some girl he wanted to ask to the dance. You guys didn't even see me, I was hidden in the men's suit department." I said as I turned to Rose. She had a sincere look on her face.

"Oh…" was all either of them said.

We sat there for a while and just looked off into space.

I decided to break the silence. "So…who is she?"

"Who is who?" Alice asked.

"The girl Edward likes…" It hurt to say that.

"Oh…well Jasper told me he was going with Tanya Denali…" she was fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.

"What?" Rose obviously didn't know either. "When did that happen?"

"After school…that's all I know."

"Tanya??" I asked. Alice just nodded her head. "Edward likes Tanya??"

Sure Tanya was pretty, but she wasn't too bright and had annoying stalkerish tendencies. Like when we were in 6th grade, she sat beside me and thought that I was her best friend. She would have her mom drop her off at my house without even telling me. I would find her eating cereal in my kitchen on Saturday mornings. I still don't know how she got in…probably through a window.

One day I finally told her to leave and she's hated me ever since. I never thought of her as Edward's type…but I guess I was wrong.

"Well actually…Tanya asked him." Alice looked up at me waiting for my reaction.

I was confused…"Well then who did he want to ask?"

Rose started, "Bella, he likes-"

Ring Ring. Ring Ring.

"Sorry, I have to get that, I'm waiting on a call from Renee."

"Hello?"

"Bella! When were you going to tell me about Tyler?!" I groaned, I should have remembered Tyler's mother was on the committee too.

I covered the phone with my hand, "Its Renee asking about Tyler. This is going to be a while…sorry."

"Its ok…we'll see you tomorrow?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, I'll be at school tomorrow."

I heard them pull out of my driveway and I went back to the interrogation my mom was in the middle of.

JPOV (he's become a pretty big part of the story and I decided to change it up some)

I was sitting in my room thinking about Saturday when my phone rang. It was Alice.

"Hey you." I smiled.

"Jasper where is Edward?" Alice sounded really frantic.

"He's in his room moping…still. Why?"

"You and Emmett need to meet Rose and me at my house now!"

"Why?"

"I can't explain right now but I promise I will when you get here."

"On my way."

I hung up and went to find Emmett. He was in the garage messing with the Jeep.

"Hey Em, Alice said we need to go to her house now. It sounded important, we better hurry."

"Okay, go get Edward."

"No she said just us." I clarified.

"Wow, this is serious. Hurry up."

We arrived at Alice's and we saw her and Rose waiting on the front steps. We swiftly walked towards them.

"What's going on?" I was thinking about it the whole way here, and my mind was coming up with all sorts of horrible situations.

"We just got back from Bella's house." She stopped there. _And??_

Emmett was thinking the same thing. "And?" he asked annoyed.

"And Bella didn't want to go with Tyler. She thought Edward liked someone else." Rose finished.

"WHO CALLED IT?! RIGHT HERE!! I DID! I KNEW SHE DIDN'T LIKE THAT IDIOT!" Emmett boomed.

I just shook my head and chuckled.

"Why are you guys joking around this is serious!" Rose asked clearly irritated.

"What are you talking about? We just tell them they like each other and boom…problem solved." Emmett stated.

"Actually it's more complicated than 'boom, problem solved.' Bella still thinks Edward likes someone else even though she knows Tanya asked Edward to the formal and Edward still thinks Bella likes Tyler." Alice told us.

"Right, see Bella heard Emmett, Edward, and me talking in Macy's when we were at the mall and she thought he was talking about another girl…not her." Rose added.

"So then that's when she decided to say yes to Tyler." I was finally understanding.

"Exactly."

"I still don't get why we can't just tell them." Emmett said folding his arms.

"We can't because we _have_ told Edward, who didn't believe us, and Bella is even more stubborn than him. Plus they're both obviously hurt." Rose told him.

"Ugh! This is a huge mess!" Emmett threw his hands in the air.

"Which is why I think we can get them to see things clearly _at_ the dance." Alice finally seemed hopeful.

"What did you have in mind?" I asked her.

"Well its pretty simple. We just need to convince one of them to finally tell the other how they feel and then everything with work out itself. But it has to be at the dance because I think Bella is planning on avoiding Edward until she absolutely has to be in the same room as him."

"That sounds great. I think Edward would be easier to convince though, since he was about to ask her to the dance himself." I could easily get him to, with the right persuading.

"All right, so its set, Operation: Finally hook Edward and Bella up!" Emmett said as he put his hand out.

The girls just giggled and put their hands in with his. I put mine in too.

"Okay on three, we yell…'Bellward!'" he looked completely serious.

"Bellward?" I gave him a funny look.

"Yeah! Like Brangelina or Zanessa! It means Bella and Edward!" He couldn't believe I didn't get his weird name combination.

"Okay…"

"One two three..." he started, "BELLWARD!!" we all shot our hands in the air.

EPOV

I heard Jasper and Emmett leave the house.

_Wonder where they're going? Probably to see Alice and Rose…they are practically couples already…lucky._

I was sitting in my room playing darts, with a picture I drew of Tyler Crowley pinned to it.

"Stupid. Tyler. Stealing. My. Bella!" I said between throws.

I probably did that for about an hour and a half. I noticed it was dark outside but didn't bother to look at the clock. I was tired anyway and just went to bed.

I woke up the next morning and got ready for school. I was pretty sure Bella would be there today, she wouldn't be able to get away with faking sick two days in a row, she was a horrible liar.

Sure enough when we got to school her old truck was parked near the picnic tables and she was sitting there reading. I forgot how beautiful she was. It made me smile for a second before I saw Tyler walk up to her and sit down.

I was about to walk over there and just tell Bella everything but Tanya stopped in front of me, exactly like she did yesterday.

"Hey Eddie." Ugh, I hated that nickname. I only allowed Emmett to because he wouldn't not say it…Bella never called me Eddie, always Edward, exactly how I liked it. But I would let her call me Eddie if she wanted to. _Stop Edward! She's with Tyler…well not yet but that's her date. She likes _him_, stop thinking about her._

"Its Edward, Tanya." I replied.

"Oh well, Hey Edward!" she laughed.

"Hey Tanya."

"Ready to go to English?" she asked me. I forgot we had two classes together.

"Sure, lets go."

We walked past the picnic table Bella and Tyler were at. As we walked by I could feel her eyes following but I didn't dare look back.

BPOV

I watched Edward walk away with Tanya. I was jealous, I have to admit, but still Tanya?! I couldn't believe Edward would like someone like her!!

Tyler was going on about some project in some class he was having trouble with, but I wasn't listening. I was surprised he hadn't noticed. I watched Edward walk away until they went through the English room door.

"Don't you think that's stupid?" I heard Tyler ask.

"Yeah…totally. I have to get to class, but I'll see you later Tyler."

"Okay, bye Bella." He smiled as I walked past him.

I really did feel bad for acting this ways towards him. He wasn't a bad guy; he was actually really nice and funny. He just wasn't who I wanted. I wanted a messy-haired green-eyed boy who made me weak at the knees when he smiled and at the moment was unfortunately unavailable.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The rest of the week followed the same 'routine' I guess. I would sit at the picnic table, Tyler would come and talk to me, Edward and Tanya would walk by, I would watch them while pretending to listen to Tyler, then I would tell him I had to go to class.

Biology and lunch were especially awkward.

Since Edward was my lab partner, we had to sit beside each other, but lucky for me, I skipped the one day we had a lab. We didn't ever talk but it was still hard. I missed him and his smile. Every time I saw Edward he was frowning or had no emotion on his face at all. I wanted to walk up to him and tell him a stupid joke I learned from an underclassman that day or something crazy I had seen Emmett do to get him to crack a smile, but we had a silent rule with one another not to talk.

During lunch Tanya had decided to join our table. That was great. She always sat beside Edward and would talk about her dress she was wearing to the dance, or her shoes, or how she was getting her nails done. I wanted to just reach across the table and slap her but I knew she was with Edward, and if I did that he would probably hate me. Though I didn't know what our relationship was at the moment. Did he already hate me? Was he just mad I wasn't talking to him? Did I do something to him?

I thought about it, but I wasn't sure.

It was finally Friday and school followed its normal routine without fail. Lunch was especially awkward thought because Tyler took the last available seat at our table. No one talked but Tanya and Tyler the whole hour.

I confirmed plans to get ready at Alice's house with her and Rose and then went home. I finished my homework and had nothing to do. I sat there looking at my phone. I hadn't spoken one word to Edward in six days. It was killing me. I was miserable.

I picked up my phone without thinking and sent him a text.

Hey…

**Hey.**

_What's are you doing?_

**Nothing too important…you?**

This made me smile. He always made fun of me when I told him I wasn't doing anything 'too important.'

_Same…so are you excited for the dance?_

**I guess…**

_Well I hope you have fun with Tanya…_

That was a lie.

**Thanks. Same for you and Tyler.**

Yeah…thanks.

He never text me back after that…

**A/N soo...? they're not, not speaking to eachother...that's good right??**

**Next xhapter will be up tomorrow!! I'm really excited for it, I think its pretty much the climax of the story...brace yourselves, it gets pretty intense.**

**Please review and let me know what you thought!!! :)**

**lleighh;;**


	11. It has always been you

**A/N LONGEST CHAPTER YET!!! 3,567 words :) I had a lot to write in this chapter though...you'll see why.**

**Okay, I want everyone to find a peice of paper and a pen! Got 'em? Alright, now list five thing you love about me...then put the peice of paper where you can see it easily. Now read over it one more time.**

**okay here goes nothing...chapter 9...**

EPOV

I woke up the next morning feeling better and worse at the same time. It was the day of Winter Formal. The day that messed up everything between Bella and me. Bella and I have had a weird relationship, if you could even call it that, this past week. We never talked, I wouldn't even look at her, but I could tell she would watch whenever I walked anywhere with Tanya.

Last night changed my outlook on everything. She actually talked to me last night. I was seriously bouncing up and down on my bed when I saw her name flash across my screen. I didn't know what to say to her though. It was annoying not knowing what to talk about with her. We could always talk about anything.

I remember not texting her back after I hoped her and Tyler had a good time at the dance. I regret that now. I just wish things could be like they used to. I would rather be no more than a friend to her than nothing at all.

I decided thinking about things was not doing me any good so I made my way downstairs for some breakfast.

"Ahoy scallywag! Care for some Cap'n Crunch?" Emmett asked pouring some milk into his cereal, "Or are you 'Coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs?'" He started laughing at the funny voices he made.

Emmett has to be adopted.

"No thanks, I'll just have some Cheerios." I replied politely. I learned a while ago if I let Emmett know he was bugging me, he would just irritate me until I couldn't take it anymore.

"Cheerios?? Way to go grandpa, pick the most boring cereal in the cabinet!"

"Whatever Emmett."

"Seriously! Edward you have _got_ to tell her!" he yelled.

"Tell who what?" I tried to play dumb.

"Are you kidding me?! BELLA!! All you've done the past six days is mope around the house or school!! You're starting to bring me down man!!" He was using his hands to talk, it was pretty funny actually. When he said 'are you kidding me?! BELLA!!' he flung his hands out and then slapped them on the back of his head, then he held out six fingers, then motioned around the house and the direction school was. Last, he pointed his pointer finger towards me and then his thumb towards his chest.

I doubled over in laughter. "Oh man, thanks Em, I needed that." I sighed.

"So?? Are you going to tell her?" He had picked up his cereal and was giving me a lovely view as he chewed while he talked.

"No." I shook my head.

"Why not?!"

"Because…" I didn't really have a reason besides the fact that I didn't want to here her tell me she didn't feel the same way.

"Give me one good reason why you shouldn't and I'll never ask you again." He challenged.

"I don't have one…" I murmured, "I want to tell her. I just can't."

"You can and you will. Trust me, I'm almost positive she feels the same way. Especially the whole Tanya thing." He mumbled the last sentence into his cereal bowl; I didn't catch all of it.

"What was that?"

"I said 'Trust me, I'm almost positive she feels the same way'."

"No, after that."

"I said, 'I said 'Trust me, I'm almost positive she feels the same way.''"

"Emmett!! You know that's not what I meant!" I growled.

"I have no idea what your talking about brother." He wasn't going to tell me. I was just wasting my breath.

Jasper walked in then and grabbed the Cocoa Puffs.

"Ahhh…so you're the one who's 'coo-coo'" Emmett did his high-pitched bird voice again. And then laughing at it. Again.

"Wow." Jasper breathed.

BPOV

It was five o'clock and I was on my way to Alice's house because she wanted us to be there by five thirty. Alice only lives about three minutes from my house, but in Alice time, five thirty means ten minutes early, but I knew she was excited so I decided to be an extra twenty seven minutes earlier than early…if that makes sense.

Sure enough when I walked up to her room, she was already getting out her hair products and makeup.

"Hey Bella!" she flitted over to my side and grabbed my dress from me, hanging it up in her closet.

"So I was thinking of curling your hair and then having it half up, half down."

"That sounds good." I smiled. I always agreed with Alice because it made her happy and always ended up looking great.

We were looking though Alice's iPod for some 'getting ready' songs when Rosalie entered.

"Hey! Who's ready for an awesome night?" she beamed.

I faked enthusiasm because I didn't want them to suffer with me in my gloomy mood.

"I am!" Alice and I shouted at the same time.

I was first for hair since Alice and Rose were both fixing their own. As I sat there ignoring the tugging and pulling at my scalp I thought about tonight. Would I have fun with Tyler? Would I just sit there and watch Edward and Tanya have fun? Would I search the crowd and test possibilities of the girl Edward actually wanted to be at the dance with? Who knows? I sure didn't.

After they finished my hair, I tried to look in the mirror, but I was quickly pushed back onto my seat being told that I had to have everything done before I could look. Something about it 'ruining the effect.'

They finished my makeup and I slid into my dress. I clasped on my necklace and earrings and slid my ring on my right, third finger. I decided to wait and put on my shoes right before Tyler picked me up so my feet wouldn't hurt so soon.

I walked up to Alice's full size mirror, after being allowed, and stared at the girl. She could probably compete with Rosalie.

"Wow..." I said as I twirled a curl around my finger.

"Stop that! You'll ruin your hair." Alice swatted my hand away.

"Sorry." I smiled sheepishly.

Alice and Rosalie finished getting ready and we were called downstairs to take pictures. All three of our mothers were there snapping pictures. My cheeks started to hurt from smiling and the constant flash from the cameras blinded my eyes.

Tyler was going to pick me up around eight thirty at Alice's house, the same time Emmett, Jasper, Edward, and Tanya would be arriving. I wanted to leave before they got here, but our mothers insisted on group pictures.

The doorbell rang at eight twenty nine and the five of them filed in. I tried to stay as far away from Tanya and Edward as possible, in fear of flipping out on her for asking Edward to the dance.

First we took individuals with our dates, but this time there were six cameras going instead of three. Esme, Tanya's mom, and Tyler's mom arrived shortly after everyone else. Then we did a picture of all the girls, including Tanya. I didn't mind all that much since we had already gotten some of just Alice, Rose, and me. Next was a picture of the four boys, and then the three brothers. It was really funny when they blushed at their mothers telling them how handsome they looked.

Alice's mom suggested we get a picture of our 'group' meaning, Alice, Rose, Jasper, Emmett, Edward, and me. It wouldn't have been so awkward if the other four of our six weren't two couples. This made Edward and me stand beside each other with his hand on the small of my back.

After that awkward mess, we were free to go. Tyler and I got in his SUV, Edward and Tanya got in a silver Volvo, and Emmett, Rose, Jasper, and Alice piled into the death trap. Rosalie was driving, of course.

We arrived at the school around nine fifteen. Perfectly fashionably late, as Alice had put it.

The gym was decked out in paper snowflakes, Christmas lights, and fake icicles hanging everywhere. We found a table to lie all of our stuff on and then went to the dance floor.

I wasn't having a terrible time. So far the DJ had played all upbeat songs that everyone knew, so naturally Alice, Rose, and I danced together.

The DJ switched tracks and came on the sound system, "Okay slowing it down, all you guys grab your girl."

"Wanna dance?" Tyler whispered in my ear.

I just nodded and wrapped my arms around his neck.

We swayed back and forth, awkwardly avoiding eye contact until Tyler spoke, "I'm glad you decided to be my date Bella, but can I ask why?"

"What are you talking about Tyler?"

"I can see how you look at him, and the way he glares at me. Why are you not Edward's date?"

I didn't know what to say, so I went for the clueless act. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that you two clearly should be dancing together, not you and me and Edward and Tanya."

"Edward _doesn't_ like me. I don't know why he's been glaring at you."

"I think you'd be surprised Bella…" he trailed off.

"You think Edward likes me??" I snorted.

"Yeah I do. You can't see but he's actually staring daggers at me right now." He chuckled.

"No way."

"Way." He smirked.

EPOV

A slow song had started and I was about to just go over to Bella and ask her to dance when I felt a tugging on my arm.

"Edward come on, dance with me!" Tanya whined.

I pulled Tanya over to where I had a clear view of Bella and Tyler.

"What are you staring at Edward!" Tanya followed my gaze and narrowed her eyes. "Ugh I hate Bella! You know I was nothing but nice to her in the sixth grade and then out of nowhere she just flipped out on me! I don't see how your friends…"

Tyler and Bella were laughing about something and the jealousy ran through my veins.

I looked down at her face and politely replied, "Because she is everything to me."

Then I pushed her aside and started towards Bella. The song had ended and the "Cha Cha Slide, " boomed from the speakers.

I ran into Alice and Jasper and tried to get past them but somehow they pulled me back to our table.

"What's going on Edward? Why do you look like you're about to punch someone?" Jasper asked.

"Because I need to talk to Bella. Now." I replied sternly.

"Just a second, we need you to know something." Alice sat down beside me.

"I know you didn't believe us before, but I _know _Bella wanted to go to this dance with you."

"I don't get how you know all this information!!" I snapped back. I was fed up with all the things my friends seemed to 'know' about Bella and me.

"I know the only reason she said yes to Tyler was because she thought you were going to ask another girl!" She yelled back.

Wow. Didn't see that one coming.

"Wh-WHAT?!" I was shocked to my very core. How long have they known this.

"How long have you known??" I asked angrily.

"Since Monday, but every time we tried to tell you, you flipped out on us!!" Jasper added.

"Oh…yeah sorry about that...I was kind of…not myself."

"Yeah we know." Jasper replied flatly.

Just then Tyler came up to our table without Bella.

"You better tell her the truth Edward. She's won't accept that you like her back."

Alice and Jasper's jaws hit the floor. Since when was Tyler in on this??

"How do you know?" I asked dumbfounded.

"Dude, you've been throwing me the ugliest looks since we got to Alice's house." He laughed, "Now go!"

"Thanks." I slapped him on the back as I ran into the sea of people on the dance floor.

I saw Bella dancing with her back to me in front of Rose. Rosalie smiled and gave me a nod as she whispered something in Bella's ear.

She turned around and Rose pushed her towards me. She ran into me and my arms instinctively wrapped around her.

"You ok?" I asked pulling her away some so I could see her face.

She just nodded and smiled.

"Come with me, I need to talk to you." I grabbed her hand and pushed through the dancing bodies.

BPOV

Edward led me outside and you could still here the faint boom of music from the gym. Edward still had my hand in his and my heart my thudding out of my chest.

"Bella, I have something I need to tell you…" He looked straight into my eyes.

"Okay…shoot." I replied shakily.

"I have had the biggest crush on you since that day at the carnival. You have no idea how much I wish I was Tyler right now. Alice told me you heard me talking to Rose and Emmett in Macy's last weekend, when I was telling them about the girl I wanted to ask to this dance. Bella, that was _you._ It has always been you."

I was speechless. I just stared into his eyes, those perfect emerald eyes.

"Say something." He wiped a tear I didn't know was falling, from my cheek.

"I-I…I want to be with you too Edward!" I flung my arms around his neck and held him as tight as I could, still crying.

I was afraid I might be choking him, but he tightened his hold on me and lifted me off the ground.

We stayed like that for a few minutes before he set me down and looked into my eyes. He started to lean in and right as our lips were touching he whispered, "I've been dreaming about this since the kissing booth."

He crashed his lips onto mine and I braided my hands in his hair. We pulled away unfortunately when we needed air and he trailed kisses along my jaw.

"I think we should go and tell everyone the good news." He breathed, my hands still latched onto his hair.

I nodded and let go but without hesitation, weaved my fingers through his.

We entered the gym again and found our other four friends huddled around our table, intently talking about something, probably us.

We strolled over and sat down like nothing happened.

"Hey guys!" I waved with my free hand.

Alice was about to burst, she was bouncing up and down so fast and holding in a squeal.

"So??" Emmett motioned with his hands for us to say something.

"Oh! You're never going to believe this but uh…Tanya's not really my date anymore…technically." Edward flashed his crooked smile for the first time in what seemed like months.

"OHMYGOSH!!!! AHHHHHHH!" Alice screamed. She hopped out of her chair ran around the table, enveloping us in an awkward three-person hug.

Another slow song started and Edward pried Alice off.

"May I?" Edward motioned towards the dance floor.

"Yes, you may." I giggled.

Edward escorted me to the middle of the floor and pulled me in. I wrapped my arms around his neck and rested my head on his chest.

"Finally…" Edward murmured as he kissed the top of my head.

I smiled, even though he couldn't see.

The song ended too quickly, but before it was over Edward planted a sweet kiss on my lips.

"Want to go sit down?" he asked as the fast songs started again.

"Yes." I smiled and got up on my tiptoes to give him a peck on the cheek.

I sat down at the table while Edward went and got us some punch. I waited, three songs had passed and he wasn't back yet. I went back to the refreshments table and he wasn't there. I heard some talking in the hallway, so I went to see if he was out there.

I opened the door and froze at the sight before me.

EPOV

Bella was sitting at our table while I went to go get us some drinks.

I walked up to the table and grabbed to cups, when someone tapped me on the shoulder.

"Oh…Tanya, hey." _Crap._

"Where did you go Edward?" she had her hands planted on her hips, and did not look happy.

"I told you, Bella is everything to me, and I had to tell her how I feel."

"And what did she say?"

"She said she felt the same." I didn't know where she was going with this.

"So you choose her over _me?_"

"Yes exactly." I started to walk away, but she grabbed my arm.

"Edward, why?" She seemed hurt, so I thought the least I could do was explain to her why I was practically ditching her.

"Follow me."

I led her out the doors to the hallway where all the lockers were.

"I'm sorry Tanya, but I'm sort of with Bella now…"

"What?!" she yelled, "You can't just leave me for someone else in the middle of the dance!"

"I'm sorry. I'm not just leaving you though. You came as my date so I'll drive you home."

"But you're still choosing Bella? Bella Swan?!" I don't know how many times I have to tell her this…

"Yes."

"No! No way!"

She grabbed the drinks from my hands and set them on the table beside us. Then she threw her arms around my neck and forced my lips onto hers. I grabbed both sides of her face, trying to pull her off when I heard the door open.

Tanya pulled away to reveal Bella, unmoving in the doorway. She looked between Tanya and me a couple times and then ran back into the gym.

"Bella! Bella Wait!!" I started to run after her but Tanya still had one arm locked around my neck. "Get off Tanya!"

She smirked, "Okay, your loss."

I barreled through the door and saw her running towards the bathrooms.

"Bella Wait!!"

"NO EDWARD!" She turned around and had tears streaming down her face. "Just. Leave. Me. Alone."

"Bella listen!" I tried to plead with her.

"Listen to what?! I saw you kissing her! What happened to 'You're the one, Bella'? Why would you tell me that and go and stick your tongue down another girl's throat?!"

"Bella I didn't-" she cut me off.

"Didn't what? Think that I would catch you?!" She started to walk away again.

I grabbed her wrist and spun her around.

"What?!"

"Bella please listen to me!"

"No! Now let go of me!" she yelled.

I did the only thing I could. I let her go and watched her disappear behind the door. She wasn't going to listen to me right now anyway. I stood there for a few more minutes before I went looking for Alice and Rose. They would know how to fix this.

I got over to the table and saw Jasper and Emmett sitting down.

"Where are Alice and Rosalie?" I asked.

"Bella just called Alice from the bathroom, what happened?" Jasper questioned pulling a chair out for me. I looked back at the girls' room door and decided she probably wasn't coming out anytime soon and took a seat.

"You know how screwed up things were before?" they both nodded, "Well, I just made it a hundred times worse."

"What happened??" Emmett asked this time.

"I was getting Bella and me some punch when Tanya came up behind me and asked if I was with Bella now. I figured she at least deserved an explanation to why I basically abandoned her halfway into the dance, so I took her out in the hallway and explained to her that I didn't like her and wanted to be with Bella. She told me no and then kissed me. I had my hands on both sides of her face trying to push her off, which now that I think of it probably didn't look that great when Bella walked through the door…"

They both just sat there staring at me stunned.

"Now I have no idea what to do, she won't let me explain and now your girlfriend's probably hate me since she's in there telling them what she saw." I rubbed my eyes and let out a frustrated sigh.

Just then Rosalie stomped towards me, hands on her hips, a lot like Tanya was just a few minutes ago. This was not good.

"You, jackass, have some explaining to do!" she yelled at me.

**A/N Okay! Read over your reasons for loving me again!! **

**Don't hate me guys...**

**Yes, I know I'm a horrible, horrible person! Edward and Bella finally reveal their feeling for eachother and I rip them apart! Plus, I added a little bit of a cliffy. What is wrong with me?! Seriously!!**

**Remember: I Have A Plan. Don't Worry!**

**But on a happier note things can only get better from here :)**

**Please Review!! You can yell at me all you want! lol**

** lleighh;;**


	12. It isn't fair!

**A/N Okay so did anyone really list five things you love about me?? haha**

**3,932 words this chapter :) **

**You guys are AMAZING!! I love all your reviews and you!!**

**Alright, things get a little rough but not as bad as last chapter...**

EPOV

_Previously:_

"_I have no idea what to do, she won't let me explain and now your girlfriend's probably hate me since she's in there telling them what she saw." I rubbed my eyes and let out a frustrated sigh._

_Just then Rosalie stomped towards me, hands on her hips, a lot like Tanya was just a few minutes ago. This was not good._

_"You, jackass, have some explaining to do!" she yelled at me._

"I know this looks bad-" Rose cut me off before I could defend myself.

"Looks bad?! This is a disaster!! My best friend is heart broken because of _you_! I thought you really cared about her Edward! What the hell happened!?" She was getting louder and madder by the second and people were starting to hear her over the blaring music.

"I do care about her!! Why do you think I went after her!? Will you just let me EXPLAIN?!!" Now students stopped dancing and were watching everything unravel.

"Guys, let's go outside, Bella wouldn't want the whole school knowing what happened. And we know Tanya will take care of that by Monday.." Jasper spoke to us softly and ushered out into the cold air.

"Now you're both free to be as loud as you want!" Emmett hollered.

Rose just stood there glaring at me with her arms crossed.

"I'm waiting…" she said as she tapped her foot on the sidewalk.

I went over the whole story for a second time and saw her eyes fill with rage, hopefully aimed towards Tanya.

"That little bitch!" I must say, Rosalie's vocabulary had widened quite a bit since this whole incident.

"So you believe me?" I waited hopeful, that she would understand.

"Yes, I do. Plus Emmett and Jasper would be mad at you too if you had really meant to kiss Tanya."

I pulled her into a hug. "Thank you!"

"Yes, I'm happy too, but you still have to explain to Alice and then try to get Bella to even be near you for two seconds to explain to her. I can't help you Edward, she's crushed."

"I know…this is all my fault."

"Yeah, you're right, but telling me that won't get Bella back."

"Can you have Alice come out here then so I can explain to her?" I needed to get their support back before I could even consider talking to Bella. If they even one of them didn't believe I was innocent, she would never hear me out.

"Of course." She gave me another hug and walked inside.

BPOV

I was lying across the counter in the bathroom wearing my dress and makeup smeared all over my cheeks. I looked like a mess. I had finally stopped sobbing, and now only a tear every few minutes would fall down my face.

I took a deep breath and turned to Alice, "She's been out there a long time…" I whispered.

"Yeah…I wonder what's going on."

"I'm sorry I ruined your night, Alice." I felt horrible for making her stay in this bathroom with me while everyone else was having fun and dancing just a few feet away.

"Don't you dare apologize Bella. You're my best friend, if you were in here and I _was_ out there I wouldn't be having any fun." She gave my shoulder a squeeze with the arm she had wrapped around me. I laid my head on her shoulder and closed my eyes.

I heard a knock on the door. Alice had locked it after the girls in here before evacuated so I wouldn't be embarrassed for crying my eyes out.

Alice walked over and opened it. Thankfully it was Rose, she whispered something in her ear and then came and took Alice's spot as Alice left the bathroom.

"What's going on?"

She was hesitant at first, but decided to tell me, "Edward…wanted to talk to her…"

"Oh…did he talk to you?"

"Yeah…"

"Oh." I couldn't decide if I wanted to know or not. I didn't feel like having a crying fit again so I just leaned my head on Rosalie's shoulder this time and closed my eyes again.

It was silent for a long time. You could still hear the music and people's voices on the other side of the door, but it was barely above a hushed volume. Rosalie was rubbing my arm soothingly and I almost fell asleep, until Rose said something.

"You should talk to him Bells."

"I don't think I'm ready to yet…" I was afraid to even look at him. I didn't know what emotion would come out. Anger, hurt, sadness, confusion, fear, I had a whole list of things going through my mind at the moment.

"Do you want to know what he told me?" I could tell she was being careful with her words.

"Not right now…"

"Okay."

We fell back into our silence until Alice returned.

"Hey Bells, Emmett and Jasper wanted to know if they could say bye…they're going to take…Edward home…" Alice was being careful too. I could tell by the way she hesitated over _his_ name.

"Yeah…sure."

She went back to the door and opened it for them. Emmett came to me first and enveloped me in a big bear hug. It made me start crying again. I don't even know why.

"I love you Bella, you're like the little sister I never had…if you want I'll beat him up for you…" he chuckled trying to lighten the mood.

I smiled and wiped away my tears, "Be my guest." I breathed.

Jasper came next and gave me hug too. He just kept it simple and whispered in my ear, "I'll help Emmett."

I waved goodbye as they left and I saw Jasper throw Rosalie a pair of keys.

"What are those for?" I studied the key chain in her hand for a moment.

"They're keys to the Volvo so we had a way to get home." Rose explained.

"Are you ready to go? We're spending the night at my house. I already called your mom and had her drop off your things." I nodded back and we exited the bathroom to see that not many people were left at the dance. It must be late. I wonder how long I had stayed in the bathroom…

We got to the parking lot just as Emmett was pulling out. I told myself not to look, but I did anyway and saw Edward in the backseat with his head in his hands. Emmett rolled down his window and yelled a goodbye and Edward's head shot up faster than a bullet from a gun. His eyes locked on mine and even though I tried I couldn't look away. I watched as the Jeep disappeared down the road and climbed in the back of the Volvo.

There was a note with _Bella_ written on the front. My fingers twitched, wanting to reach for it, but I held myself back. I was done crying for the night.

We arrived at Alice's house and I looked at the clock. It read 1:30 A.M. Wow. I hadn't realized we were gone for so long.

I quickly changed into my pajamas and slid in between Alice and Rose in the bed.

Right before I fell asleep I whispered to them, "I don't know what I would have done without you two tonight, I love you guys."

"Love you too Bells…" They whispered back and I quickly found myself in a deep sleep.

EPOV

Alice had believed my explanation thankfully. By the end of the story, the third time I was telling it, I just broke down and cried. I had messed up so bad and now Bella wouldn't even look at me.

I felt a twinge of jealousy when Emmett and Jasper went to say by to Bella. I wanted to be the one who could comfort her when she was upset. I wanted to be the shoulder she cried on. But I couldn't because I was the one who had hurt her.

Em and Jazz came back out shortly after and told me we were going home. I argued with them for a good five minutes before they convinced me I wouldn't get to see Bella tonight.

I was in the back seat of the Jeep silently going over everything that happened. How could this be the greatest and worst night of my entire life at the exact same time? Bella was finally _mine_ until I went and screwed it all up. I should have just walked away from Tanya. I shouldn't have led her in the hallway alone. I should have stayed with Bella.

I heard Emmett yell, "Bye! I'll call you tomorrow Rose." And I immediately looked up and saw her. Even with her eyes red from crying she was still breath taking. I had my hand on the door handle and was about to jump out but Jasper had caught me. I kept my eyes focused on her until I saw her figure vanish inside the car.

How am I going to fix this?

BPOV

I woke up the next morning feeling like, lack of a better word, shit. My eyes were swollen from crying last night and my throat felt like I swallowed sand paper. I looked over at the clock and noticed it was already 11:30. Alice and Rose must have already gotten up because they weren't in bed and I could smell someone cooking breakfast.

I shuffled down the stairs and found them both coating their pancakes with syrup.

"Morning Sunshine!" Alice sang as she gave me a one-arm hug.

"Hey guys." Was that _my _voice? I sounded like a boy going through puberty!

"Here Bella, this will make you feel better." Rose handed me a hot mug of coffee.

"Thanks." I breathed in the scent and took a big gulp.

I didn't really care for the taste, but it soothed my aching throat as I swallowed.

I grabbed a plate and loaded it with pancakes. When I got to the table his note was laying to places away.

Rosalie must have seen me acknowledge the letter. "He called us this morning and wanted to make sure you read it…"

"Okay…" I ignored it and tried to finish breakfast in peace, but it felt like the piece of paper was screaming my name.

I pushed off my chair, snatched up the folded note and went back up to Alice's room.

I hesitantly flipped it open.

_Bella,_

The tears started to fall.

I know I messed up big time, but you have to let me explain. I just got you back Bella, I don't want to loose you again. When you're ready call me. Anytime. I meant what I said when you were the only one for me. You're everything to me Bella. Please believe me.

-Your Edward

I was full out bawling when Alice and Rose came to check on me.

"Are you okay?" Alice asked coming over and rubbing a hand on my back.

"No." I choked out.

"Bells," Rose came and sat on my other side, "When your ready I think you need to at least call him. He told me his side of the story…"

"What did he tell you?" I asked still staring down at the letter.

"I don't know if it's my place to tell. I think he wants to tell you himself." She explained.

I just nodded my head, never looking up.

EPOV

I probably got about three hours of sleep all together last night. I lay in my bed, just staring at my phone, hoping her name would appear on the screen.

I called Alice around ten o'clock to see how Bella was doing. She told me that when they got home she went right to sleep. I asked about the note I left for her. She didn't read it, but Alice assured me that she would let me know the second Bella did.

BZZ! BZZ! BZZ!

My phone went off. I went in for the tackle; much like the first night I met Bella after the carnival. I looked at the caller id. It was just Alice.

"So…?" I didn't even bother with hello.

"She read it." I waited for her to continue, but she never did.

"Well what happened?"

"She started crying again and Rose told her she should talk to you when she's ready. I just don't know how long that will be…" She sounded sad. I didn't know if it was for Bella or me.

"Okay…thanks Alice."

"Sure Edward…don't worry, we'll talk to her again. She has to hear you out at some point."

"Yeah, I hope so…" I said goodbye and then returned to my position on my bed.

I heard my door creak open, but didn't bother looking at who it was.

"Edward, honey?" I was Esme.

"Yeah mom?" I breathed.

"Are you feeling alright?"

"No." I tried to answer her in as few words as I could. I wasn't up for talking unless it was to Bella, or how Bella was doing.

"Emmett told me what happened…" She had come and sat at the end of my bed.

"Of course he did." Stupid Emmett, and his stupid mouth.

"She'll forgive you Edward."

"She won't. She won't even talk to me." I said solemnly.

"Give her a little space Edward. She's hurt and she needs to think some thing through. She can't do that with you checking up on her every hour." How did she know that?

"I can't do that. I have to know what she's doing. What if she decides to never speak to me again? I can't just sit here and let that happen!" I was becoming frantic.

"I know. That's why you're grounded from your cell phone, house phone, and computer for two days. Trust me on this. You need to give her a little room to breath right now." She was just above a whisper now.

I thought about it for a second. "Fine." I agreed grudgingly.

She held out her hand and I placed my phone in it.

JPOV

Esme came down the stairs holding Edward's phone.

"What are you doing?" I walked up to her.

"Edward needs to give Bella some space. He wouldn't do it on his own so I had to interfere. Its not like it will kill him, its only two days." She explained.

"Are you sure that's the best idea?"

"Yes." She nodded and then left the room.

My phone rang. It was Alice.

"Hey…how are things on your end?"

She sighed, "Well Bella finally read Edward's letter and she just fell asleep again…How about over there?"

"Esme took his phone away…" I waited for her to disagree but her answer surprised me.

"Good." She replied back seriously.

"Good?"

"Yes. Bella obviously doesn't want to talk to him now and if he bugs her about it then she'll just get mad at him."

"Oh." That made sense.

"Exactly. So how long did she confiscate it for?"

"Two days." I informed her.

"Okay, tell Edward that he can text Bella once he gets his phone back. But that's it!"

"Yes ma'am."

She giggled and we talked for an hour about non-drama related things.

After I hung up with Alice I went to go see how Edward was holding up.

I opened his door to find him in the same position as last night once we got back from the dance.

"Hey man…" I stayed in the doorway.

"Hey." He replied numbly.

"I just talked to Alice…and she said once you get your phone back you could text Bella."

"Really?" That got him to look up at me.

"Yeah, she agreed with mom about how Bella needed space."

"Oh. I don't know if I'll be able to do it Jazz. Especially when I see her at school…and we sit right beside each other in Biology!"

"It's gonna be tough, but you have to. For Bella."

"For Bella." He repeated.

I heard the Jeep start up and faint away as it drove down the road.

"Its not fair!!" Edward sat up. "How come everyone else gets to be see her and talk to her except me?!"

"I know its tough-"

"No you don't!! The girl your falling for wants to be with you!" He was yelling now. "No one knows what this feels like!"

"That may be true, but we're all clearly trying to help you!!" I snapped back.

"Can you just please leave Jasper."

"Fine."

I walked out and instantly felt guilty. Yeah he yelled at me when I was only trying to make him feel better about the whole situation, but he was right. None of us knew how he and Bella felt.

BPOV

It was the second Monday in a row where I didn't feel like I could face him at school. I had no choice though. Rosalie was forcing me to go.

She even gave me a wake up call this morning:

"You need to talk to him Bella." She said to me for what seemed like the billionth time in the past 24 hours.

"I know…" I had thought about it since I read the letter and decided I would listen to what he had to say.

"So you'll talk to him??" she sounded hopeful.

"Not today…I'm not ready yet." Even though I had agreed to talk I was definitely not ready to face him. It would just bring back all the horrible memories of that night.

"So when do you think you'll be ready…?" she was pestering me.

I sighed, "I don't know Rose. Honestly I'm just worried about seeing him today."

"Okay…well I'll be at your house to pick you up ten minutes before school starts." She didn't trust that I would go on my own so she insisted on driving me today.

"Okay see you in a little bit."

I was currently at my kitchen table eating a bowl of Lucky Charms. I know its lame, but I thought it might actually bring me a little luck for today.

I heard Rose honk her horn from outside and I dragged my feet into her BMW.

"Cheer up, butter cup! Everything will be fine!" She smiled sincerely at me.

We got to school and I noticed, thankfully, that the Cullen boys hadn't arrived yet.

Alice was at our usual spot finishing up some homework.

"Hey guys!" she said when we sat down.

Rose just came out and told Alice, "Bella decided she would talk to Edward."

"Really?! That's so great Bella!" She was practically happy dancing in her seat.

I shot a nasty look at Rose, "Yes I did, but not today…I don't even know how I'll react to seeing him."

Just thinking about it made me nervous. My heartbeat sped up and my palms got sweaty. I don't know whether it was because I didn't want to see him, or I couldn't take our separation any longer.

Speak of the devil. I saw Emmett come barreling around the corner in the death trap with _him_ riding shotgun.

They parked two spaces down from Rose and got out. I had forgotten how bronze his hair was and the way his lips pursed when he was uncomfortable. He zoned in on me and right after I got a glimpse of his perfect emerald eyes I shifted my gaze to the top of the table.

They were walking over when the bell rang and I bolted straight towards my locker.

Emmett caught up with me and walked me to class since we had first period together.

"So how was your weekend Bells?" He tried to make small talk. I just gave him an are-you-kidding-me look and kept walking.

He continued, ignoring my expression, "Well it had to be better than Edward's. He got his phone and computer privileges taken away."

"Why?"

He chuckled, "Esme told him to give you some space…"

"Oh."

"Yeah but he gets them back tonight, also ending his mandatory time to 'leave you alone' so I would enjoy it the few hours it lasts." He flashed me a toothy grin.

"Alright…thanks for the heads up." I said to him as I took my seat.

My first three classes went by way too fast for my liking. I stood outside the Biology room door for what felt like hours. He was already sitting down at our lab table.

I hadn't really looked at him this morning, sure I saw him, but I didn't see how awful he looked. He had bags under his eyes from lack of sleep and his hair was messier than usual. I felt bad for doing that to him but at the same time, I was angry with him for making _me_ feel guilty for what _he _did.

I slowly opened the door and walked in and as I passed the rows of students, they whispered to each other. This had been happening all day, I'm sure Tanya had already informed the whole school the night at the dance.

I set my books on the table and sat on the stool. Edward just sat there like a statue looking towards the chalkboard.

I decided to be nice. "Hi…" I didn't even look at him but I felt like I could at least acknowledge his presence.

His eyes widened a little and he faced me. "Hey." He breathed.

That was our only form of contact the rest of the day.

EPOV

I didn't have enough homework to keep me busy until nine o'clock. That was when my 'give Bella space' punishment was over.

I was probably irritating everyone in my house. Since I didn't have my phone I couldn't check the time easily so I would find someone and ask them. That happened about every three minutes. Emmett finally snapped.

"GO AWAY!!" he boomed. He was trying to concentrate on the play they were reading in his English class.

"Okay, but before I leave what time is it now?"

"8:48!! NOW LEAVE!!" he yelled even louder as he pushed me out his bedroom door.

_Okay…twelve more minutes…you can do this…59, 58, 57,56,55, 54…3,2,1! Eleven more minutes!!!_

I skipped into the kitchen and smiled at Esme.

"I believe my punishment is over." I sang sweetly.

"Oh! You're right, here." She pulled out my phone and I snatched it out of her hand.

"Thanks!! I'll be in my room!" I took the stairs two at a time and jumped on my bed.

I suddenly didn't know what to say to her. She had said hi to me in Biology but that was it…did she even want me to text her??

Who cares! I'm going to get her to let me explain one way or another.

_Here goes nothing…_I thought as I hit send.

**A/N Soo??? How do you think Bella will react?? She did talk to him in Biology...is she going to forgive him???**

**Idk????? :P**

**Next chapter will be up tomorrow...most likely :)**

**Please Review!!! Love you ALL!!!**

** lleighh;;**


	13. I have to protect my heart

**A/N Hey!! so i'm super duper busy at the moment and I don't think i'll be able to update again until this weekend...sorry :( Writer's block just sucks! lol**

**But I managed to get this up for you guys today!! :)**

**Okay...go!!**

Previously:

_Here goes nothing…_I thought as I hit send.

-:-:-

Hey Bella…can we talk?

She responded a long ten minutes later.

Sure.

**Is it all right if I call you?**

No.

**Ok… can I explain what happened at the dance?**

I'm listening…

**When I went to go get our punch Tanya came up and asked if I was with you. I told her yes and she got mad so I took her out into the hallway to tell her I didn't like her and I wanted to be with you. She told me no and then kissed me. I was pushing her away when you came in…not kissing her back.**

It took two different text messages to say everything. I waited anxiously for her reply and all I got was one word.

Okay.

What did that mean? Okay, I forgive you? Okay, I never want to talk to you again? Okay what?

I know I wasn't supposed to call her but I did anyway. She didn't pick up. I called again. Nothing.

The third time I called I left a voicemail.

"Bella please believe me. Tell me what you're thinking right now, anything…something besides just a simple text message. I won't stop calling until you answer."

BPOV

I was sitting in my room. Just sitting there, on my bed, reading his text over and over. I didn't know what to think. My heart was screaming at me to forgive him and drive over to his house right now, but my mind was telling me to talk to him more and make sure he was telling me the truth.

I called Alice and Rose, and asked them to come over. I needed to hear what he had told them.

In the time it took them to arrive, Edward had called seven times and left one voicemail.

"Hey, we're here! Have you talked to him?" Rose asked hurriedly.

"First I want to know what he said happened, to you two. He already told me but I want to know if it's the same thing he told you."

They both nodded and replayed the same story Edward had text me, but with more details.

I just nodded back and flipped open my phone.

"_You have one new message. To play your messages press one." _I pressed one and put my phone on speaker so Alice and Rose could here. "_Message: Monday, 9:22 p.m. Your callback number is 555-3040." _

"_Bella please believe me. Tell me what you're thinking right now, anything…something besides just a simple text message. I won't stop calling until you answer."_ Edward's voice still echoed through my room after I hung up.

"So how many times has he called?" Alice asked.

My phone started ringing. "That makes eight so far…"

"Aren't you going to answer it?" She looked at me like I was crazy.

"You think I should? I don't know what will end up coming out of my mouth…I might start yelling or cry…I don't know."

"Just let it happen Bella. You need to let him know how you feel about this whole situation." My phone started ringing again and I flipped it open.

"Hello?" I squeaked out.

EPOV

I was calling for the ninth time. It stopped ringing after the second one.

"Hello?" I heard Bella ask nervously form the other end.

"Bella!" It was great to hear her voice again.

"What Edward?" she replied irritated.

"Just hear me out Bella. I don't like Tanya. I never have. It has always been you. Always. I know it looked bad when you saw us in the hallway," I heard her shudder at the thought, "but I promise you I was pushing her _away_."

I was about to go into more of an explanation when I heard her sigh, "I believe you Edward."

"You do?" I wasn't sure if I was dreaming or not.

"Yes, but your not forgiven." She replied flatly.

"What?" I was confused. She said she believed me…

"You hurt me Edward! I thought everything was perfect and then you disappear and I find you making out with Tanya in the hallway!" She was yelling.

"I'm so sorry Bella. I didn't mean to hurt you! That was the last thing I wanted to do! Why would I ever be interested in Tanya?!" Now I was yelling back at her.

"That's what _I_ was wondering!" Her voice was shaking now and I could tell she was on the verge of tears.

"Bella, do you think you could ever forgive me?" I wanted her to say yes so badly.

"I just need some time Edward, I need to be just your friend for a little bit…" My heart sank. Just a friend? We went from best friends, to not speaking, to a couple, to her hating me, and then back to just friends?

"I don't get what you're saying Bella…"

"I'm saying that I'm not willing to start where we left off after we danced together. I need to protect my heart Edward…I don't think I could go through that again." She explained softly.

"I'll never hurt you again though, Bella! I promise!" Tears started stinging my eyes. Could she really not trust me?

"I have to do this. I'm sorry."

"Okay, if you want a friend, that's what I'll be."

BPOV

It had been two weeks since my phone conversation with Edward. Tuesday at school I acted like I didn't have feelings for Edward, that I never heard him talking in the mall, and that the dance never happened.

Things were semi-normal. It was hard to be our group since now Alice and Jasper were a couple and Rose and Emmett were official now.

But Edward and I were okay. We would talk like we used to, he would text me after school just to see what I was doing, which I would reply, 'nothing too important.' We would all meet at the picnic table in the mornings and talk about anything that came to mind. He would walk me to Biology and then to lunch after that.

The football season had ended which meant basketball was coming up. I should have known that all three of the guys played.

We were sitting at our spot on a Tuesday morning when Emmett ran up to us. "If you have plans this Friday, cancel!"

"Why?" I asked as Edward took the seat beside me.

"It's the fundraiser-slash-kickoff supper for the basketball season. And you are all invited." Emmett smiled.

"So what are you guys doing for your fundraiser?" I asked, hopefully it was the same as last year. You could either buy three pies to throw at your choice of team member for five dollars or a dollar a ball for the dunk tank.

"I have no idea, Renee and Esme are deciding! There's a team meeting tomorrow after to school to let us know." Emmett replied happily.

"Well good luck with that, remember the carnival? That was my mother's bright idea."

I heard Edward mumble something under his breath, it sounded like, "Remind me to thank Renee…"

I got home from school and found my mom and Esme talking in the living room.

"Hey Bells, how was school?" Renee asked as soon as she saw me enter.

"Good. Nothing exciting happened, but Emmett told me you two were organizing the basketball fundraiser."

"Yeah, we're actually trying to decide on that now." Esme answered.

"Oh well don't let me interrupt, I have homework to do anyway."

I was halfway up the steps when I heard Renee yell, "Bella? Can you call one of the boys and let them know they're invited for dinner here tonight?"

"Sure thing!" I yelled back and made my way to my room.

I dialed Edward's number and he picked up after the third ring. "Hey, what's up?"

"Nothing much, but Renee invited you, Emmett, Jasper, and your dad for supper tonight. Esme is over here now talking about the fundraiser with my mom."

"Okay, what time?"

Crap, I don't know?! "Umm…hold on."

I heard him chuckle before I set the phone down and asked Renee what time they were supposed to come over.

I picked the phone back up, "5:30"

"I'll see you later then Bella."

After I hung up I realized Edward would be here. Inside my house. Where I live.

I finished my homework at five and went downstairs to help with dinner.

We were having lasagna. Yum.

The rest of the Cullen's arrived right at 5:30 like they were told. Carlisle and Charlie watched the Mariners game on TV while Edward, Emmett, Jasper, and I sat at the table talking, waiting for the food to be done.

"How much longer mom?!" Emmett hollered towards the kitchen, "I'm hungryyy!"

The rest of us laughed, he sounded like a two year old.

At dinner I listened to the boys' conversation about the upcoming basketball season. I noticed that every now and then Edward would glance over at me, almost like he was making sure I was still there. Every time he did, my breath would hitch and a blush would appear across my face. I realized I was done being friends.

EPOV

Wednesday, we found out that our fundraiser activities would be a 3-point shot contest for everyone that attended the supper and a kissing booth. Apparently it was a huge hit at the carnival and Esme and Renee wanted to see how well it worked with boys.

I was a little miffed. The only girl I wanted to kiss was Bella. My only hope was that she would get in _my_ line this time around.

Friday came, and we got our shifts for working the kissing booth and the 3-pointer contest.

First, I worked the shot contest with Tyler, and then the kissing booth with Emmett and Jasper.

I walked out on the court and started collecting money and handing out basketballs to the participants. I saw Alice and Rosalie walk in and take a seat on the bleachers. I searched the crowd and didn't see Bella anywhere. _Where was she?_

I kept making my way down the line to all the contestants. In between I would scan the gymnasium for Bella and she never appeared.

I was doing just that when someone walked up.

"Can I have a basketball please?"

I whipped my head around and saw Bella their smirking. "Were you looking for someone?"

"N-No…I mean…yeah-h. I was looking for Emmett to tell remind him not to be late for our shift at the kissing booth." I quickly lied.

"Oh…well when do you work?" she smiled sweetly at me.

"In about forty five minutes." I snuck a peak at the clock on the wall.

"Okay." She shrugged and went over to the free throw line. Bella lined up her shot and actually made it! I didn't know she was that good.

"Wow…"

She chuckled, "I know." And then walked away after collecting her limited edition Forks Basketball t-shirt, she won for making the 3-pointer.

I kept an eye on the clock and counted down the minutes until my next shift started. Since Bella asked me what time I would be over there I assumed she planned on 'contributing to the basketball team' if you know what I mean.

I had about ten minutes left when a familiar face walked up.

"Hey! You stole my woman!" It was that little twerp, Mike Newton.

"What are you talking about?"

"I heard you two had a thing going on and if it weren't for you she'd be with me right now!" he looked up towards me. I was a good five inches taller.

"Aren't you in sixth grade Mike?"

"Yeah, but I'm mature for my age." He said straightening out his shirt.

"Clearly…" I snorted back.

I handed him the ball and he went over to make his shot. Just then Bella walked in and I saw his eyes zone in on her.

"Hey sweet thang! Watch how I do!" he called out to her.

He lined up his shot, but didn't follow through, causing it to miss the basket by a foot.

She giggled, "Wow…impressive."

I laughed and that earned me a not-so-intimidating glare from Mike.

My replacement took my spot, and after explaining to him what he was supposed to do, I made a beeline for the booths.

I walked up to Eric Yorkie, who I was replacing.

"It's pretty simple, all you gotta do is kiss 'em." He laughed and walked away.

I sat down and there were a couple of the mom's in my line who would just make donations or ask for a kiss on the cheek.

I was surprised to see Renee step up.

"I'm just here to make a donation, and since I'm not getting a kiss, can you answer a question for me?"

"Sure." Seemed easy enough.

"You really like my daughter don't you?" She smiled.

"Uhm…yes, actually I do." I said as I cleared my throat.

"Well then you should know she's been making goo-goo eyes at you since we arrived." She snickered and pointed towards Bella. I followed the line of her finger, and when I met her eyes, she blushed and looked down.

"That's good to know." I goofily smiled back to Renee.

BPOV

I had convinced myself to get in Edward's line for the kissing booth. I mean it was only fair; after all, _he_ got in _my_ line no less than two months ago.

Alice and Rose came with me because they wanted to 'show these girls how it's done.'

We all got in line when I noticed a familiar little blonde slut two people ahead of me. Rose noticed and mouthed, "What the heck?" as she pointed to Tanya.

I just shrugged my shoulders.

This shouldn't be bothering you Bella. Edward is not yours…yet anyways. Maybe he'll turn her down…

I waited somewhat patiently as the line moved along until I heard her nasally voice.

"Hey Eddie…"

"Hi Tanya." Edward replied emotionless.

"Aww, don't you wanna start where we left off?" I could tell she was trying to sound seductive, but it didn't work out for her well.

"No thanks." He shot back. I inwardly smiled.

"You have to if you want my donation to the team." She demanded.

"That's ok, we've had plenty of other people donate tonight." He smiled back.

"UGHH!" she screamed and stomped off.

I had to wait for the stupid freshman in front of me to stop hyperventilating before I could took my place before Edward.

"Bella…" he breathed. He seemed a little surprised I was standing there.

"Edward." I smiled back. "I believe you owe me a kiss, I did pay for the ticket…"

"O-Of course!" He stuttered. It was very cute.

I leaned in twenty percent of the way. I wasn't going to do all the work!

He closed in on the eighty percent that was left and softly took my bottom lip between his. The same spark electrocuted my body, and I kissed him back, lightly sucking his upper lip.

I could hear Alice squealing and Rose shushing her to the right of me. I got embarrassed and regrettably pulled away.

I took a moment to get lost in his eyes before some little girl tapped my arm.

"_Excuse me_, but I would like a turn." She told me with a little 'attitude' shake of her head.

"And who are you?" Alice turned towards her.

"Jessica Stanley, 6th grade, Edward's soul mate." She stated confidently.

I just snorted and started to walk away, but Edward caught my wrist.

"My shift is over in thirty minutes…meet me outside?"

"Why not?" I smiled back and he pulled out his famous crooked grin.

EPOV

Now I knew how Bella felt about Mike Newton. This girl was driving me nuts! She must have gone back through my line at least three more times!

I was finally off the clock and I sprinted out the front doors. Bella was sitting at our picnic table, twisting a strand of her hair in her fingers.

"Hey." I walked over to her.

"Oh! You scared me!" she gasped.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to…" I replied sheepishly.

"It's ok."

We sat there in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before she spoke.

"I forgive you Edward." She smiled softly looking right into my eyes. "I know I should have sooner, but I wasn't sure if I was ready…I'm sorry about that…"

"Don't be." I gave her my crooked grin I knew she loved. "I'm just glad you did."

I walked over to her side of the table and pulled her into a tight embrace. She locked her arms around my neck and whispered into my shoulder.

"I missed this. I missed you. I missed _us_."

"Me too Bella." I kissed the top of her forehead and we stayed there the rest of the night, just holding each other, never wanting to let go.

**A/N AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THEY FINALLY MADE UP!!!!**

**:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) ****:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)****:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)**

**But they're not officially going out...yet ;)**

**So review and tell me how much you love me for FINALLY getting ExB back together!!**

**haha**

**Love you ALL!!**

** lleighh;;**


	14. Wake Uuuuuuup!

**A/N Hey!! So...not much to talk about...things are finally going smoothly in the story (yes!)...for now ;).**

**I don't know when i'll be able to update next because i'm superrr busy these next like 2-3 weeks, but i'm pretty sure i can at least update once each week. idk i'll try as hard as i can to get new chapters up!!...though i still have to write them haha**

**Oh!! and go check out bella-18-swan's story! its called** "**jacob, nessie, nahuel, oh my!" The first chapter isn't very long but she told me that if she gets more readers and they like her story then she would write longer ones :) so go check that out!**

**That's all so without further adue (is that how its spelled? lol)...chapter 12!!**

BPOV

"EEEEEEEEEEEE!" Alice was practically jumping off the wall.

"So are you two finally going out now?" Rosalie asked, more composed.

"I don't know, honestly we didn't really talk about that…" I actually hadn't even thought if I should call Edward my boyfriend or not. I knew we definitely weren't allowing the other to see someone else, but he never really asked me to be his girlfriend.

It was Saturday morning. Alice and Rosalie were staying with me until Tuesday since my parents left last night after the fundraiser for Seattle. I think it was their anniversary or something like that…

It was about fifteen till eleven and we had finally rolled out of bed to eat breakfast. That's when the interrogation started. 'What happened with you and Edward last night?' 'Did you kiss him?' 'You two were outside for a long time.' 'What did he say after you forgave him?' and finally, 'Just walk us through the entire conversation!'

I gave them the play-by-play of last night, and that's when Alice started flipping out.

As I ate, my mind kept wandering back to Edward. The way his face shone in the moonlight. How the emerald reflected from his eyes as the bore into mine. That spark I always felt when his lips brushed against mine. His arms wrapped around my waist.

"I'm so happy." I sighed and smiled at my two best friends.

"Well it's about time!" Rosalie laughed, "You and Edward have been driving me nuts since the beginning of the semester!"

I threw a fake annoyed look back at her.

Alice had finally settled back down, well as much as she could. She was still involuntarily bouncing her knees as she slurped up the rest of the milk in her cereal bowl.

"Well I am just happy all the drama is over with!" she exclaimed.

"Oh I definitely agree." I replied back.

I was itching to call Edward, but I wasn't sure if he was up yet. We had stayed outside until the end of the supper, which was around nine thirty and then he had to go help clean up.

Apparently, Emmett had spilled the leftover jugs of lemonade, right as they were almost finished. It went everywhere. Most of the guys had gone home already so it was just Edward, Emmett, Jasper, Coach, and two other boys on the basketball team who had to mop the floor and rewash the sticky residue off the chairs and tables.

They finally finished around midnight.

It was getting too hard to wait so I hastily picked up my phone and dialed his number.

It rang five times before I got an answer.

"Lo? Whozit?" Edward's smooth voice slurred in my ear.

"Oh! Sorry, it's Bella. I didn't mean to wake you up." I apologized, even thought I didn't feel all that bad.

He was becoming more alert, "No, no! Don't worry about it, I actually like waking up to your voi-oice." He yawned.

I blushed, "So…did you sleep well?"

"Absolutely, and I had the best dream..." he trailed off.

"Okay…" he still sounded dreamy even with a just-woke-up, groggy hint to his voice. "Are you doing anything today? I think we should all go out and do something fun." I suggested. We hadn't really been out in our group since before the whole winter formal fiasco.

"That sounds great. Let me go talk to Emmett and Jazz, and I'll call you back?"

"Of course." I smiled, "Bye Edward."

"Goodbye Bella." I could tell he was smiling just as widely as me.

EPOV

I leapt from the bed darted into Emmett's room.

"Get up! Get Up!! GET UP!!!" I started to jump up and down at the foot of his bed.

"What the…?!" Emmett shot his eyes open and took in the sight before him. "Edward?? What are you _doing_? Aren't these roles usually switched?" he asked obviously confused.

_Huh. I guess he's right. Maybe this is how Emmett feels most of the time. All hyped up and giddy…_I started chuckling picturing Emmett all giddy and giggly like a little girl, and then at myself because I was going just that,

"So what's with the totally unnecessary wake-up call bro?" he rubbed his eyes sleepily.

"We are going out with the girls today! Get ready now! I'm going to wake up Jazz!" I hopped back onto the floor and sprinted to Jasper's room.

"Get up, get up, get up, get up, get up, get up, get up, GET UP!!" I called into his ear.

"HEY!" he screamed, "I AM _TRYING_ TO SLEEP!"

"Not anymore, we're going out with the girls! Now when I come back in here to check on you, you better be out of this bed." I mocked the tone Esme always used.

"Yeah…whatever..." I heard him grumble into his pillow.

I swiftly went back to my room and shut the door. I dialed Bella's number and waited for her to pick up.

"Hey."

"Hey, Em and Jazz just woke up…well halfway, but what time do you want us to come pick you up?"

I heard some mumbles in the background before she answered.

"Actually, we'll come get you guys…" she snickered. I'm sure they had something planned.

"Okay, can I ask what you're going to do?"

"No, but don't worry it'll be funny." She was fully laughing now. "Go check on Emmett and Jazz for me though, if they went back to sleep just leave them." She instructed.

"Yes ma'am." I crept over to Jasper's door and sure enough, he was past out with his arm hanging off the side of the bed. Then I went to Emmett's door, I didn't even have to look. I could hear him snoring on the other side.

"They fell asleep again."

"Great!! We'll be there in like 20 minutes."

She quickly hung up and I hoped the time would go by fast.

What felt like an hour later, I could hear a car pulling in our driveway. I walked out the back to meet them so that way they wouldn't have to ring the doorbell and wake up my brothers. The girls obviously didn't want them conscious yet.

"Hey." I breathed as I walked straight for Bella.

"Hey…" she smiled shyly back. I pulled her into a hug and then gave her a kiss on the cheek.

I so desperately wanted to kiss her sweet, pouty lips, but I didn't really know if that was "appropriate" yet. We weren't technically going out, but we weren't dating other people either…It was confusing. _I'll have to fix that tonight…_I made a mental note in my head.

"Okay kids, enough with the cute stuff! We came here for a reason." Rosalie laughed.

"Which is?" I questioned.

"You'll see. You get the fun task of watching it all happen with me." Bella grabbed my hand and pulled me along behind her, following Alice and Rose.

We quietly tiptoed up the stairs and onto the second floor. Bella lead me to the center of the hallway right in front of Emmett and Jasper's bedroom doors. She silently counted to three on her free hand, and Rose and Alice threw open their doors running straight for the guys' beds.

"Wake uuuuppppp!! Wake uuuupp!! It's time to wake uuuuu-uuup!!" They both sang incredibly off key as they jumped all around Em and Jazz's, now alarmed, bodies.

Emmett's face was priceless. "How the hell did you get in here Rosie?!" he wailed and covered himself up instinctively with his sheets.

"Excuse me? If you don't want me here I guess I'll just leave." She feigned hurt. Rose leapt off the bed and started descending down the stairs.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Emmett pulled on a t-shirt and followed after her.

I shifted my gaze into Jasper's room where Alice was still singing loudly and Jazz had his pillow clamped overtop his head.

"WAKE UUUUUU-UUUPP! WAKE UUUU-UUUPPP! IT'S TIME TO WAKE UUUUU-UUUPP!!"

Suddenly his hand flew up and grabbed hold of Alice's ankle. I heard her yelp and then saw her feet fly out from under her as she fell beside Jasper on the bed.

"Ohmygoshthatwassoscary!!! Don't you ever do that again Jasper Cullen!" she playfully swatted his arm.

He still had the pillow covering his head, so without saying anything, he felt around for Alice's waist and pulled her in to his side.

"That would be our cue to leave…" Bella giggled.

I nodded and led her into my bedroom. It was a little awkward; the first time the girl you plan on "going steady" with sees your room. It can tell them a lot about you.

She hesitantly stepped through the threshold and took in her surroundings.

"Wow…" she said, awed. "You room is _really_ cool."

I chuckled; Bella would say something like that.

"Thanks…" I watched her as she inspected my music collection and books.

"We _have_ to listen to this! I haven't heard Claire de Lune in forever! My mom used to play it Debussy in the house, just as background noise, but she lost the CD and hasn't gotten another one." She laughed.

I grabbed the disc from her hand and placed it in the stereo. The musical notes filled the room and I could hear Bella humming along. She made her way over to the black couch in the corner and I followed.

We sat their snuggled in each other's arms just listening to the soft lullabies. Bella had grabbed hold of my left hand and was playing with my fingers, while my right had was snaked around her waist.

"So what was 'the best dream you ever had' about?" Bella asked curiously.

"I bet you could guess…" I leaned my head against hers so I could whisper into her ear.

"Okay! Ummm?" She tapped her chin playfully as she thought. "Were you that hot-shot basketball star making the winning basket as the buzzer went off?"

I smiled, "Nope."

"Finally convinced me to go mudding in the death trap again?" she snorted.

"I wish, but no."

"Okay, I give up!" she stated dramatically.

"I'll give you a hint…Her name rhymes with 'fella', and she consumes my thoughts 24/7."

"Ella Fitz in the ninth grade, you know the one who has a picture of you in her locker…? She'll be thrilled once she hears you had a dream about her _and_ constantly think about her. I think I have her number, maybe I'll give her a call…" She started scrolling through her contacts. I snatched her phone out of her grasp quickly, that picture was no joke, I had seen it myself.

"What?" She asked innocently, "You mean that's _not_ who you dreamt about?" she feigned shock. "The only other girl I know of with a names that rhymes with fella is…me!" It was so cute how Bella tried not to let a smile escape her lips.

"Exactly!" I let out an exasperated sigh.

Bella giggled and leaned in towards me, resting her head on my chest. "Well what exactly happened in your dream?'

"We were in the forest or a meadow and we just lied there together talking about various things. I don't really remember much about what exactly we talked about but most of it must have been funny because we laughed quite a bit." I smiled remembering Bella's carefree laugh.

"That sounds like a great dream." She replied softly.

I could feel her evenly breathe in and out, if she hadn't of said anything, I would have thought she was asleep.

"It was." I kissed the top of her forehead and held her in my arms, where she belonged.

BPOV

I must have dosed off, because the next thing I knew, I could hear Emmett yelling, "CUDDLE TIME!" and then two very strong arms squishing me in between him and Edward.

Edward's voice was groggy, he must have fallen asleep too, "Jeez Em, don't kill her."

Emmett just ignored him. "So what are we gonna do gang?"

"I'm not sure, I just kind of want to hang out." Rosalie answered.

"We're going to the park!!" Alice chimed in.

"The park?! I _love_ that place!" Emmett ran out of the room calling for us to hurry up.

"Come on, can't keep the oversized toddler waiting…" Jasper shook his head and exited the room with Rose and Alice following.

I fell back into Edward's arms and closed my eyes. _Maybe they wouldn't notice if we just stayed here…_ I hoped.

Five seconds later, Emmett came bounding up the stairs.

"Did you not hear me? I said COME ON!!" He bellowed and stood there with his arms crossed.

Edward groaned and reluctantly lifted me in a standing position before getting up himself.

"Alright, alright…we're up, happy?" he mumbled sleepily.

"Very." Emmett grinned toothily.

We all climbed into the death trap, Rosalie driving, of course, with Emmett in shotgun, Alice and Jasper in the middle row, and finally Edward and I snuggled in the back.

"Mmmmm," he hummed, "Maybe we could stay in the car while the rest of them go play…"

"That sounds nice." I sighed and placed my head in the crook of his neck and let my eyes droop.

We arrived at the Forks Community Playground shortly and were forced to leave the comforts of the death trap. _Never thought I'd say that…_

Emmett and Alice made a beeline for the slides. I watched as Alice slid down it with ease, and then Emmett who could barely fit, tumble down.

The four of them, Emmett, Alice, Jasper, and Rosalie, were planning the route of the obstacle course race they wanted to try. Edward tugged on my hand and I followed him to the swings. We sat on two that were beside each other and clasped hands again once we were situated.

We tried swinging at the same time, like in those romantic movies, but it didn't work. Edward would always be faster than me, and as he swung forward with my hand still in his, he would yank me forward as well.

We stopped trying after about ten failures and Edward moved behind my swing and lightly pushed me.

"I have a question Bella…" Edward started. He sounded pretty serious, which worried me.

"Okay, shoot."

"How did you make that three point shot? It was perfect! I had never even seen you pick up a basketball until then!" He exclaimed.

I laughed out loud; Edward would be wracking his brain to figure out how I was a natural at basketball.

"Just skills I guess." I shrugged like it was no big deal.

He pulled the swing so I was dangling beside him. "Just skills? You mean to tell me that I'm supposed to believe you have _never_ played on a team before?"

His eyes were boring into mine with disbelief and amazement. My brain had melted into mush so all I could do back was nod.

He let go and I propelled forward again. I was a little dizzy from the sudden rush of emotion _and _motion.

"Alright Swan, you and me, one on one." He grabbed my hand and lugged me towards the basketball courts.

"What? I haven't played in a year and a half!" I protested.

"Aha! So you did play!" _Crap. Think before you speak! Always think!_

"N-no, pshh! I meant a year and a half since I've _watched_ basketball being played…" I tried to save myself.

"You suck at lying Bella." Edward laughed picking up the ball.

"Fine…It started when I joined a recreation team when I was in fifth grade because Charlie thought I might like it…and played until freshman year." I could feel my face heating up with embarrassment.

"Why'd you quit?" He questioned.

I looked down at my shoes, "It just wasn't really my thing…Coach Clapp got pretty mad at me when I told him I wasn't going out for it sophomore year."

"But from what I've seen you're _really_ good!"

"Yeah but I like playing basketball for fun…it gets to competitive in high school."

"Oh, so then you wouldn't mind playing me then?" He smiled crookedly. Ugh! That little cheater knew I couldn't say no to that stupid smile!

"Alright, but only one game!" I told him.

He nodded and tossed me the ball. "Ladies first." He smirked.

I started dribbling as Edward came towards me, trying to steal the ball. I swiftly ducked under his arm and took a shot. It went sunk in the basket beautifully.

"Whoa baby!!" I heard Emmett shout from the opposite side of the park.

The rest of the group made their way over to our court, Emmett and Jasper's eyes bugged out while Alice and Rose nodded in approval. Edward was still staring at me in shock and I just blushed…again.

"Who knew Bella had game?!" Jasper joked.

"Actually, Bella was MVP for Junior Varsity freshman year!" Alice added happily. I shot her a glare.

"Bella?!" all three brothers were now staring at me with the exact same facial expression.

I tossed the ball around in my hands as I turned an even deeper red. "Yeah, that's true…"

"She was _amazing_! You don't even know!!" Rosalie turned towards them.

"Well please proceed with your game…" Jasper motioned between Edward and I.

"Now I can't with everyone watching!" I whined.

"Bellaaa!" Emmett mocked my tone.

"Fine." I grumbled and threw the ball to Edward.

This time I could tell Edward was actually trying compared to when I had the ball. I wasn't fazed though; I darted under his arm again, stealing the ball. This time, I dribbled right to the basket and dunked it, receiving hoots and whistles from the girls and stunned looks from the guys.

"If we have to stop after every basket we'll never finish the game." I said waiting for them to compose themselves.

Edward cleared his throat and walked towards me. "You're going down, Swan."

I just smirked and chucked him the ball. "Bring it, Cullen."

EPOV

Everyday Bella seemed to reveal something more amazing about herself. I had no idea she played basketball and was actually good! No wonder Coach Clapp was pissed at her. He lost the best player on the team!

I ended up losing the game, 21 – 16. Emmett called it quits after the fourth shot in a row Bella had made.

We went to the grocery store and picked up lunch food so we could go back to the park and have a picnic.

The rest of the day we messed around and Emmett and Jazz challenged Bella to their own one on one games. Bella had won both.

Rosalie drove back to our house in the Jeep, since that's where the girls' car was and we said goodnight.

"I'll call you later, okay?" I kissed Bella's cheek and hugged her goodbye.

"Okay, see you…" she gave me one more squeeze before she let go and hopped in the car.

I watched them disappear into the sunset and right away felt part of my heart leave with them.

I remembered my plan to fix the confusion between Bella and I; we still hadn't discussed what sort of relationship we had. All that was about to change.

"Emmett! Jazz! We're taking a quick trip to Bella's house!"

BPOV

I was in my pajamas and looking for a good chick flick to watch while Alice and Rose were getting ready for bed.

Every movie reminded me of Edward though. I always compared him to the lead actor or the lead actress' love interest. Edward _didn't_ compare.

I chose "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days." A favorite of ours, and went to go pop some popcorn.

My phone started vibrating on the counter. I skipped over to my phone, knowing exactly who it was.

**Go outside.**

Was he serious?! It was like fifteen degrees out there!

_What??_

**Do you trust me?**

_Yes…_

**Then walk out your front door.**

I slipped on my hoodie and a pair of ugg boots sitting by the door.

_Okay…now what?_

**Take fifteen steps to your right.**

I ended up at the corner of my driveway.

_Done…now?_

**Turn around.**

There was Edward, with a single white rose.

BZZZZZ! BZZZZZ!

My phone started vibrating again.

**Would you be my girlfriend?**

It took all that I had not to jump up and down in complete joy and bliss, but I held myself back "Hold on…"

I could see confusion and nervousness flash across his face.

BZZ! BZZ! BZZ!

This time Edward's phone went off.

"Really?" He asked after reading my message.

"Really Really…" I smiled at him, still about a foot of space between us.

"Come here." He motioned with his hand and I lunged forward into his arms.

He wrapped them around my waist and spun me around in circles. Once he set me down I took no hesitation in meeting my lips with his. I had wanted to feel that surge of electricity from his kisses all day.

We were pulled away when we heard ear piercing shrills coming from the house.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Alice's face was pressed up against the window beside Rose.

Emmett and Jasper appeared around the corner looking to see where the noise was coming from.

The girls saw them show up and immediately emerged from the house.

They both ran towards me and started jumping up and down around in circles.

I could hear Edward's brothers congratulating him and I smiled at the thought.

I was Edward Cullen's girlfriend. He was finally _mine._

**A/N AHHHHHHHH!!!!! OH MY GOD!!!!!! ****Bella and Edward are OFFICIAL!! haha**

**Don't you love me even more now?? lol :P**

**But we are at 182 reviews right now people!! Only 18 more until my goal!!!**

**Go. Review. Now! :) please**

**haha**

** lleighh;;**


	15. Update, no chapter sorry

**A/N Hey everybody...I know i hate these "omg she put up a chapter!! ...oh wait its just a dumb authors note :(" too, but i have some things i need to touch on.**

**1st: Did everyone see the new moon extended trailer on the VMAs?!?! I WAS FLIPPING OUT!! Those of you who follow me on twitter know lol...**

**2nd: You should ALL follow me on twitter!!! haha Its an easy way for me to update with you all on when my next update will be and talking about random stuff thats on my mind :)**

**3rd: Okay...about the next chapter...i haven't exactly started on it yet...i know i know! but im having a little trouble with writers block...wait! i have an idea! how about you guys give ideas and maybe it will inspire me :) haha but seriously im stuck on this chapter... i know everything i want to write in pretty much the rest of the story i just need to find a way to _get_ there :P**

**So... in conclusion, you shuold all follow me on twitter (lleighh), how awesome was the new moon trailer??, and i'm trying hard to get the next chapter up for you all! :)**

**Okay so please review and give me ideas on what i should do...ways to help cure writers block...anything!! **

**I LOVE YOU GUYS AND I PROMISE TO HAVE THE NEXT CHAPTER UP BY THIS THURSDAY AT THE LATEST!!! :)**

**ok...bye :)**

** lleighh;;**


	16. 15 seconds

**A/N Hey...omg i am so so so SO sorry for being MIA this past week! I know you don't want to hear my excuses but I had homecoming crap all week and the teachers decided to pile on the homework and tests! ughh! **

**I will be super busy this next week with school stuff, but i will try as hard as I can to write it and upsate for you all!**

**But thank you for all your reviews and support!!! I truly appreciate every one of you!! Love you guys :)**

**So I won't keep you any longer :)**

BPOV

The clock read 15 seconds and we were tied. I had the ball and was being blocked by three huge girls from the other school. _15…15…15 seconds left. Now or never Bella_, kept running through my head.

The crowd started cheering, "10! 9! 8!…"

I was running out of time.

I looked into the crowd and found Edward's face. He was had a nervous glint in his eyes and kept darting them from me to the hoop and back to me again.

"7! 6! 5! 4! 3!…"

I looked around and couldn't see anything because these girls were seriously as freakishly large as Emmett.

"2!"

I lifted up my arms and chucked the ball towards the basket.

"1!"

_ERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!_

Everyone in the gym was silent and my eyes were squeezed shut.

All the sudden our side of the gymnasium erupted in all kinds of loud noises.

I peeked open one eye and turned towards the scoreboard.

Forks: 66 Port Angeles: 63

OH MY FREAKING GOD! I actually made the basket!

I suddenly found myself hoisted in the air as everyone beneath started chanting my name.

"Bella! Bella! Bella! Bella!"

"Bella…Bella? Bella! BELLA!" My eyes fluttered open and I saw Alice standing over me.

Oh. It was just a dream. Darn.

"What's with the face sour-puss?" She laughed hopping off the couch, onto the floor.

"Well I just had one of the best dreams of my life and I'm disappointed it wasn't real…" I pouted.

"What was it about?"

"I was on the basketball team again, and I made the winning shot. It was an amazing one too. I made it in all the way from the opposite side of the court!" I gestured how I threw the ball with my hands.

She giggled, "Is that why you were singing '15…15…15 seconds left, get ready, game on!'"

My face flooded with pink. I guess that made sense though, we fell asleep watching HSM 3.

After Edward had been all romantic asking me to be his girlfriend I didn't want him to leave, so I convinced the guys to stay and watch a movie with us.

We had already decided on Prom Night, but Alice came bouncing in with High School Musical in here hands screaming, "No! We have to watch this! Do you realize the level of hotness you'll be missing out on if you pass up Zac??"

"Well, he's no Kellan Lutz…" Emmett murmured. **(A/N: Kellan is the mean girl's date to the prom in that movie lol. Go watch it if you haven't, its the best movie ever! especially if you watch it after a school dance haha)**

The boys protested but Alice won them over when she mentioned basketball being apart of the movie. She just didn't reveal that it was only in the first two minutes.

It worked out pretty well though because after Edward realized Alice had tricked them, he turned his attention towards me.

We sat there with our foreheads rested against each other's and fingers entwined as we whispered about school, our friends, and anything we could think of. It got hard to concentrate though because Edward would sneak in random kisses every now and then.

I remember my eyes getting heavy as Emmett finished his production of "The boys are back." He knew _all_ the words and surprisingly most of the dance moves. He tried to get Edward to play Chad, his reasoning being that their hair was kind of similar, but when Edward refused to leave our embrace, Emmett settled for performing both parts.

I must have fallen asleep after that because now, here I was, still on the couch, but minus Edward.

Cue another pout.

"What now?!" Alice sighed dramatically.

"When did the guys leave?" I asked looking around hoping Edward would pop out from around the corner.

"A little while after the movie ended. It took ten minutes to just pry Edward off you, and he was conscious! It took another fifteen until you stopped asking us why we were against yours and Edward's relationship and let go of him in your sleep" she giggled again. Wow, I must have given quite a show last night, a drama act _and_ a musical number.

The heat found a way to my face again.

I decided it was time to shift the attention off me, "Where's Rose?"

"She's in the kitchen making us some yummy muffins!" Alice cheered.

Rosalie made the best blueberry muffins! They were soft on the outside and moist in the middle. My mouth started watering just thinking about them.

"Well then what are we in here for?" I threw off the blanket around my legs and dashed into the kitchen with Alice following close behind.

I sniffed the air and rubbed my tummy as Rose turned around with the bowl and spoon she used to mix the batter with in hand.

"I call the bowl!" I yelled quickly.

"Awwww Bella!" Alice whined. I had to take the spoon last time, so I didn't feel sorry for her.

I skipped over to the table and sat down, happily licking the bowl clean.

I was in mid-lick when I heard my phone go off in the other room.

"Mine!" I squealed as I darted back into the living room to look for my phone.

I finally found it wedged in between the cushions of the couch I slept on last night.

**Morning my Bella :)**

My heart did back handsprings, cartwheels, round offs, back tucks, and a series of happy dances as I re-read his message over and over.

_I love when you call me that :) **my** Edward_

**I definitely agree, how did you sleep?**

_Good…until I found out you left :(_

**I'm sorry. They had to pull me off of you though lol**

_I know Alice told me about that…and my performances from last night…_

**Ah yes! That was very cute.**

_Shutup!_

**You know, that's not the first time I've heard you talk in your sleep…**

I tried to wrack my brain for any other time we had slept near each other. The football game! I remember him briefly telling me about it when he carried me to my room…

_Yeah, after the football game when you tried to wake me up and I said 'its not time yet!'_

**Yeah…but that's not all you said :)**

_Oh god! What was it? Do I even want to know?_

**Ask Rose and Alice, it'll be better to hear it in person... :)**

I hesitantly walked back into the kitchen where Rosalie was just taking the muffins out of the oven.

"Hey…umm what did I say in my sleep when we were all in the Jeep on the way back from that football game?"

My two best friends turned to me and started shaking with silent giggles.

"Oh come on!! What did I say?!"

I got even more nervous when they burst into full on laughter.

Once the giggle fest was over I gave them what hopefully was a tell-me-now-or-else look.

"Well, you were leaning against Edward and just mumbling nonsense we couldn't understand…" Rosalie paused for effect, and I knew the bad part was next. "Then all of the sudden, clear as day, you called out 'Edward…_my _Edward.' We all froze and just turned to where you two were sitting. Edward looked like he was about to jump you for a split second he was so happy." She snorted.

I buried my face in my hands and cursed under my breath. Perfect timing though, that was sarcasm; my phone started ringing.

I threw it over to Alice who was still snickering. I couldn't talk to Edward. I could see the smirk on his face now.

"Hello?" Alice tried to imitate my voice.

"Bella, Duh!...…...Of course I do!...…...Calling me a liar Cullen?" she had let her voice change back, "I mean, whatever do you mean uhh sweetie bear?...…...No, Alice is still sleeping...…...Uh Huh." She started giggling again and then held the phone out to me. "Sorry, I tried."

"Hello?" I asked softly.

"Well, well, well. Trying to avoid me Isabella?"

I laughed nervously, "Of course not! What gave you that idea?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe Alice trying to convince me she was you?" I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Oh…that…"

"Yeah, so I'm assuming they told you?" There was the smirk.

"Yeahh…about that…see I was just-"

He chuckled, "Hmm? Just what? Dreaming about me?"

"Okay, okay! Yes!" I yelled-slash-laughed.

"Really?" he actually sounded curious…why else would I call out to him in my sleep?

"Honestly. I…uhm…have been…kinda….since..erm…I…first met you." I was really surprised I actually told him. I always thought I was some sort of weirdo dreaming about a guy I hadn't even known two full months.

But Edward always seemed to do that to me, even if he didn't initially ask to hear about my freaky secrets.

"Well Miss Swan, you would be pleased to know I dream about you too." He was trying to make me feel better. How boyfriendly of him. I smiled.

"Yes, maybe now you do. But back then when I admitted my feelings in front of all our friends you didn't."

"Nope, you have been on my mind all day and night ever since you called me the evening after we met."

"Really?"

"Really really." He replied with the same words I did when he asked me to date him.

The rest of our conversation consisted of our plans for the rest of the day.

Unfortunately Esme had declared that they were to finally unpack the last of their boxes stashed in the basement. Edward must have been stalling because I heard a few grumbles and protests followed by a sweet voice on the other end.

"Sorry dear but Edward will be done later. You can have him back around two." Esme assured me.

I blushed instantly, "Okay, tell Edward I'll see him later then."

I hovered my finger over the end button, but then heard "BELLA! NOOO!"

I laughed silently and brought the speaker back up to my ear. Esme and Edward were arguing.

"Edward, the earlier you start, the earlier you can see Bella." She scolded.

"But moooomm!" huh. I had never heard Edward whine before. It was pretty amusing. "Just let me say goodbye, at least." I could imagine the puppy dog eyes he shamelessly brought out to get his way.

"Sorry son, but I think she already hung up…Bella?"

I snickered, "Still here."

"Oh! Well then Edward wants to say goodbye…but you probably heard him pouting…" she giggled.

She handed the phone to Edward, "I guess I have to go…I promise to finish fast!" he sounded more determined at his last statement.

"Okay, you better!" I mocked his tone, "Bye Edward."

"Bye beautiful."

He hung up and I just sat there staring lovingly at the screen.

I hadn't even noticed Alice and Rosalie walk in.

"Oh boy, what ridiculously romantic thing did Edward say to you now?" Rose huffed.

"Bye…beautiful…" I sighed.

"Oooh, she's got it bad!" Alice teased.

I looked over at the clock. 10:32. This was going to be hard.

-:-:-

I waited in the passenger seat as Edward walked around the front of the car. This was unnecessary…I can open the door perfectly fine by myself.

We were in the school parking lot on Monday morning. Edward came and picked me up that morning in his silver Volvo. I didn't even know he owned a car! Apparently Jasper did too, but they thought it was a waste to all ride separately, which is why they usually came with Emmett in the Jeep of death.

Yesterday after Edward finally finished unpacking, it was around 2:45. They had gotten distracted with bubble wrap and packing peanuts…boys…

Edward took me to the courts at the park again and we played 21, where the first person to reach 21 as their score wins. Edward actually won more than me this time. After our last game (where I beat him 22-19) he got all serious and then talked me into joining the team again!

So here we were walking over to Coach's office to ask if it wasn't too late to join the girls' basketball team.

Edward had to practically push me through the door. I quietly knocked on the frame and Coach Clapp looked up.

"Oh, hello Bella." There was still a hint of bitterness in her voice.

"Hi…I was wondering if I could talk to you…" Coach motioned to one of the chairs in front of her desk.

"Yes, Miss Swan?" She was leaning forward across her desk and looked honestly interested in what I needed to say.

"Actually, its more of a question. See I know I quit basketball freshman year, and am probably still out of shape. I just realized how much I miss it. And then my friends convinced me to go out for the team again…so I was wondering if that was possible? I mean to join the girls' basketball team… I understand if you don't want me. I did after all quit and let you down. I promise I won't do that again though." I was looking down at my hands and could hear myself babbling on, but didn't have the control to stop myself.

Coach Clapp surprised me, "Oh! Of course! I knew you were lying when you told me it 'just wasn't your thing anymore.'"

"Well I was technically telling the truth. I love the game, but I just didn't like how intense the competition was, and that was only on JV!"

She laughed at me, "Well I'm sure you can handle those amateurs from the other schools."

I laughed at that and then let her inform me on practices, games, and tournaments.

Lastly, she handed me my uniform, number thirteen. I smiled inwardly, it was the same number I had before.

"I will see you after school then!" Coach called excitedly as I exited the office.

Edward was leaned against the wall waiting for me.

"So?" He searched my eyes for an answer.

"So…" I tried to put on my best fake disappointed look, but I was too happy. "I'm on the team!"

Edward pulled me into a bear hug and kissed my cheek. "That's great!"

-:-:-

I realized just how out of shape I was.

Practice was torture. We basically ran all three hours. First were man-killers, then five laps around the gym, dribbling drills, five laps, shooting drills, five laps, passing drills, and then eight laps to end.

I quickly showered and changed, knowing the boys got out of practice the same time.

EPOV

We were in the locker room after practice and I was trying to get out of there as fast as possible so I could see Bella. I was walking towards the door when I heard some of the guys talking.

"Hey, you hear Bella Swan is back out for basketball this year?"

"Yeah, Coach Clapp has been in the best mood all day."

"I caught a glimpse of their practice and she's just as good as a year ago."

I smiled. That's my Bella. Though the next comment put me over the edge.

"I figured she would be, that's one of the reasons she's so hot. I love a girl who can play sports."

"Don't try it Newton. She's dating Cullen as of Saturday."

Newton…where did I know that name? …Mike Newton! That little midget from the kissing booth and the kick-off supper.

"Please, my younger brother's met him and said he's a total pansy." Jonathan Newton. He's a senior at Forks High, and a total player.

I couldn't listen in any longer. I forcefully pushed through the door and made my way to the parking lot. Bella was walking out of the gym shortly after.

I ran over to her and planted a darn good kiss on her if I do say so myself.

"What was that for?" She giggled as I pulled away.

I shrugged flashed a grin as I laced my fingers with hers and walked her towards my Volvo.

"How was practice?" She asked as we pulled out of the lot.

"Weird. Coach made us wear these annoying goggles that kept us from looking down at the ball as we dribbled."

"Yeah, we had to do that too. And I realized taking a year off doesn't do much good."

I chuckled as she slumped into the seat. The rest of the ride was filled with a comfortable silence, my fingers rubbing soft circles on the back of her hand.

-:-:-

The first basketball game of the season was tonight and the whole school was pumped. It was the girls' game, our first game was this coming Thursday.

I had painted a '1' on my right cheek and a '3' on my left cheek, Bella's jersey number, along with Ben Cheney who had a '2' and a '5', his girlfriend Angela's number. We also decked out in blue and yellow wearing our basketball shorts and girls' basketball t-shirts they had sold for their fundraiser. We got a little carried away and wrote 'Swan' and 'Weber' on the back of our shirts to show who we were rooting for. Bella and Angela liked it though.

The school day seemed to go by fast. None of the teachers gave out homework, knowing how exciting tonight was and we had shortened class periods because of the pep rally at the end of the day.

I reluctantly let Bella leave with her team after school. Apparently they had 'team bonding time' before each game.

"Good Luck." I gave her a sweet peck on the lips and tightened my hold on her.

"Thanks." She replied shyly and tried to walk over to where Angela was waiting for her.

"Uhh…Edward?"

"Yes?" I asked innocently enough.

"You have to let me go…"

"Really?" I groaned.

"Really really." She giggled back. That had become a common saying in our conversations.

She lifted up on her tiptoes and kissed me once more before joining the other girls.

"Bye Edward!" she waved while trotting off.

"Bye my Bella."

-:-:-

The game was intense.

We were behind first half but managed to stay at least three points ahead all throughout third period. It was now fourth, and the score was 63-60, us winning.

Bella had been playing most of the game and was amazing. She would zip past everyone and make her shot. She had only missed one so far. One time she even got bold and dunked the ball. Emmett turned around to the student section and yelled, "THAT'S MY BROTHER'S GIRLFRIEND!!" I covered my face and noticed Bella blushing while in the huddle.

During half time Rose and Alice got to go see Bella in the locker room. They came back laughing and told me we had to move farther up in the bleachers.

"Why?" I asked. We had front row spots and I didn't get why they wanted to move into the crowd of people.

"Because Bella is getting distracted." Alice's high voice chimed in amusement.

"Distracted?" Emmett asked.

"Yeah, its mainly Edward over here giving her 'looks', but its also you embarrassing her with your shouting!" Rosalie scolded poking Emmett in the chest.

"I'm giving her 'looks'?" I copied the air quotes she used and everything.

"She said she can't concentrate well when she feels you watching her looking like you do and she has to spend sixteen more minutes playing against sweaty girls. It was really cute how flustered she got just thinking of you." Alice and Rose started giggling again.

A smug smile spread across my face, "So we're moving why?"

"Because if she doesn't know where you're sitting, then she can't look at you." Alice proudly stated.

"Fine." I started pushing through all the bodies. Jasper made some freshman on the fourth row move so we could sit semi-close to the court.

There was two minutes left in the game and I was so nervous. The other team could easily get ahead with only a three-point gap.

I watched as Bella started dribbling towards their basket again, weaving in and out of all the people. I'm pretty sure I saw one of the girls on the opposing team deliberately step her foot out in front of Bella causing her to trip and lose contact with the ball. The crowd started cheering, "I'm blind! I'm deaf! I wanna be a ref!" angrily since they didn't call a foul. **(A/N: No offense to blind or deaf people… :) )**

This let them score two points, now putting us at 63-62.

Then the ref decided to call a foul on Angela because I guess she was traveling, but I never saw her not dribbling the ball. _Man these refs suck!_

63-63

Fifty-three seconds left on the clock. Our girls just couldn't get around the other team's blocking. They were pretty large. It got down to 15 seconds and I heard Alice gasp as Bella was trapped behind the biggest girls on the team at half court.

The crowd started counting down when it got to ten seconds. Bella shot a smile at me and then heaved the ball towards the basket.

I followed the path of the ball.

"2! 1!"

_ERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!_

The ball made a 'swoosh' sound as it fell through the hoop. I snapped my eyes towards the scoreboard.

Forks: 66 Port Angeles: 63

The bleachers erupted in cheers as students flooded onto the court.

Emmett started shouting, "BELLA! BELLA! BELLA!"

I took no time in waiting to find her. She was easy to spot while up in the stands, but when I got down to eye level I couldn't find her.

Someone grabbed me from behind the waist and I yelped in surprise.

_Please be Bella, please be Bella. Not Tanya ...or Jessica. Please!_

I spun around meeting her wide eyes.

"Did you see that?!" she screamed and threw her arms around my neck. Even after running around and getting all sweaty the entire night, she still smelled like strawberries.

I lifted her feet of the ground and spun her around. "That was unbelievable Bella!! You're going to have to show me how to do that!"

She pulled away and gave me an incredulous look, "Please Edward, I'm sure you could do it from the opposite end of the court."

"Doubt it," Were my last words before locking my lips to hers and having that surge of electricity move through me again that I never got tired of.

**A/N So...? Okay I have to ask since its been a while...hit or miss?**

**And I have a fun game we're gonna play :) Everyone let me know your favorite line/part/moment/etc. is from this chapter :) Or from the entire story! It'll be fun!! I'll go first :P **

**From this chapter: **_**"Well, he's no Kellan Lutz…"-Emmett**_

**From the entire story: _"You, jackass, have some explaining to do!" -Rosalie_**

**Ok so please review and play my little game haha i'll feel really stupid if i'm the only one who actually participated...lol just kidding...but seriously review :)**

**Love You All!**

**lleighh;;**


	17. Mad Skills

**A/N: Hey!! So I feel pretty accomplished gettin this chapter up today :P I stayed out until like 4 am last night after the dance playing DDR **

**lol!**

**So yup...this chapter is pretty intense...sorry if you don't like it but i do :) and its very crucial to the story!**

**I loved hearing all your favorite quotes and parts of the story!! I think we should totally do that for each chapter!! :)**

**Alright...I won't keep you any longer than I have already :P**

BPOV

I had been in the best mood since last night. Everything was perfect! I had an amazing boyfriend, and the four best friends I could ever ask for. On top of that I had won the game for my team, which boosted my confidence tremendously.

I walked through the school door that morning, hand in hand with Edward. People came up and congratulated me as we made our way down the hall. After the third person I started feeling a little overwhelmed with all the attention I received. Don't get me wrong, I loved that everyone was proud of me for my 'NBA-worthy' shot, but I just wasn't used to this much awareness of my presence just walking to class.

"Looks like I'm dating the most popular girl in school." Edward smirked as I pulled my books out of my locker.

"Lucky you." I blushed back.

He just laughed and walked me to my first class.

I walked through the doorway and was instantly swooped into a bear hug by the one and only Emmett.

"Bells!! I haven't had a chance to tell you how totally freaking awesome you were last night!!"

"Thanks Em." I smiled back as he set me on the ground.

"I think I might just have to talk coach into letting you join the boys' team." He teased.

I heard a snort come from the opposite end of the room. I peered around Emmett's body and saw Tanya picking at her nails with a disgusted look on her face.

"Did you have something to say Tanya?" I sneered. _Whoa, I didn't know I had so much anger towards her…_

She snapped her head up and zeroed in on my eyes. "Nope." She said popping the 'p' and then refocusing on her cuticles again.

"Ignore her, she's just insanely jealous of your _MAD SKILLS_!" Emmett raised his voice a little more and shot a look at Tanya when he said those last two words.

The rest of the day was uneventful. Teachers gave us a pretty hefty load of homework since we didn't get any yesterday and probably wouldn't tomorrow because of the boys' game.

I went to practice like usual and met Edward outside.

"How was practice?" I was curious to what Edward was so hyped up about. I had been near him for less that thirty seconds and he had already ran up, hugged me, kissed my cheek, and then practically skipped towards the Volvo.

"Coach is letting me start!" _Ohhh. I see. _I smiled, Edward had been nervous since the season began that he wasn't going to be good enough. I remember rolling my eyes when he told me about his fear. Of course Edward would start he was one of the best on the team, if not _the_ best.

"That's great!" I squealed and gave him an awkward hug as I leaned over the middle console in the car.

"I know!!" He quickly leaned over and stole a kiss from my lips. I love excited Edward.

-:-:-

The next morning I got ready at Angela's house. We had decided to decorate ourselves in Spartan spirit like our boyfriends did on Tuesday.

It was a tradition at Forks High that the boys ask a girl to wear their jersey on game day, so when Edward asked me I obviously said yes. We also had jeans that I painted 'EDWARD' on one leg and '#18' on the other. Angela did the same for Ben. Then we finished it off with blue and yellow ribbons tied to our ponytails.

When I got to school, I made my way over to our usual picnic table. Alice and Rosalie were wearing Jasper and Emmett's jerseys and all three brothers were wearing button up shirts with ties, and slacks.

"You boys look handsome!" I smiled and kissed Edward on the cheek as I sat down.

Emmett threw me an annoyed look, "Coach made us dress up for the first game. Something about us looking like 'fine young men.'"

"He's just grumpy because he hasn't had to dress up in a while and the only black shoes he had were a size too small." Jasper snickered.

Emmett was about to argue back at Jasper but Rosalie grabbed his arm and pulled up from the table. "The bell is about to ring, come on and walk me to class! Besides, _I_ think you hot Em."

His goofy smile reached his eyes as he let Rose pull him towards her first hour class.

The teachers never gave us homework, I'm guessing because of the game again, and we even got out an hour early. The boys had a last minute shooting practice, so all us girls hung out until game time.

Alice, Angela, Rose, and I all went back to my house.

"Hello girls!" Renee greeted us as we walked through the door.

"Hey Renee!" all three of my friends replied at the same time.

"So big game tonight?"

"Not really, I'm sure we can whoop their tails." Angel laughed.

"Who are we playing?" Mom asked.

"La Push." I answered.

"Ohh…I heard that they lost Jacob Black because of his grades. Wasn't he what made the team good?"

"Yeah…but that's all he's good at. I met him once and Jacob is dumber than a box of rocks." Rosalie snickered.

"Now girls, be nice!" Renee scolded as we retreated to my room.

We blasted some rocking out music and redid our hair and makeup for the game. Once that was done we turned down the CD to background noise and played a game of truth. We decided its only fun with the dares if boys are involved.

"Okay Angela! When did you tell Ben you loved him?" Alice chirped. Angela and Ben had been dating since we started high school. If there was a cutest couple award, they would win.

"Christmas, freshman year. I know it seems kind of fast and we were really young, but it just felt right. He had gotten me a promise ring that year." She sighed dreamily.

Alice, Rose, and I all aww'd and made her blush.

"Okay my turn!" Angela announced still blushing. "This is actually for all three of you. Do you know if you love your guys yet?"

Huh.

"I do." Alice said softly. "I think I realized it just the other day when I got all sad that I had to leave him after school."

"Oh. My. GOSH! Alice! That's great!" I lunged at her and trapped her in a hug. "When are you going to tell him?"

"I don't know…wait! What if he doesn't love me back?"

"Are you kidding me?" Rosalie snorted. "The guy lived for you Alice!"

"You think?" she whispered unsure.

"We know." Rose, Ang, and I all assured her.

"What about you two?" Alice threw knowing looks at Rosalie and me.

"Actually…Emmett already told me…"Rose admitted, avoiding eye contact.

"WHAT?!?!?" Alice screeched. She picked up a pillow and started attacking Rosalie. "And. You. Didn't. Tell. Us?!" she yelled between hits.

"ALICE!" She snatched the pillow from her violent hands. "He just told me this morning!" Rose huffed.

"When?" I leaned in to make sure I could hear.

A wide smile grew instantly on Rose's face as she thought about it. "After we left you guys at the picnic table. We got to the math room and he just pulled me into a kiss and whispered 'I love you Rosie' in my ear. I was going to tell him I loved him too but he released me and then booked it down the hallway!" She chuckled. "I spotted him after first hour but when I called his name he ducked behind some lockers."

"Oh wow." I laughed. Emmett _would_ hide from the girl he just confessed his love for!

"I finally caught him between 2nd and 3rd period peering around the corner. I snuck up behind him and jumped onto his back so he couldn't run away from me! Then I leaned in and whispered, 'I love you too' and kissed his cheek. Then when I hopped off his back he turned around, flung me over his shoulder, and ran on the sidewalk to the building my next class was in chanting 'WE LOVE EACHOTHER!' I'm surprised you didn't hear him!"

My sides were hurting so bad from laughing. After everyone calmed down my friends turned to me.

"What about you and Edward?" Angela asked.

"I don't know." I stated simply.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I don't know if I love him yet. I can definitely see me loving Edward, but so far I've just been ecstatic that I'm actually dating him." I confessed.

"Well you will. I see how you two are together." Rose smirked.

I just rolled my eyes dramatically at her.

Do I love him?

-:-:-

Edward was amazing.

He could basically do every basketball trick known to NBA all-stars! It confused me that Edward doubted himself so much before with not being good enough for the team. Emmett, Jasper, and Edward _were_ pretty much the whole team! There were a couple other boys who played pretty well, like Tyler, and Jonathan Newton, but not as well as my Edward.

The other team pretty much sucked, so it didn't take much for our guys to beat them. The score ended up being Forks: 65, La Push: 22.

The students had once again gathered on the gym floor after the game to congratulate all the players. I scoped out Edward and started walking down the bleacher steps when an acrylic nailed finger tapped my shoulder.

"Yes?" I had no time for Tanya's crap today. I wanted to go down and see Edward.

"I just wanted you to know, Bella, that you and your little fling with Edward is about to end soon."

"Is that supposed to mean something to me?"

"Yes!" she stamped her foot and crossed her arms, "It means that _I_ will be Edward's girlfriend soon enough! I actually deserve him!"

"You're right Tanya. I'm sure I don't deserve someone as great as Edward. But if I don't deserve him, then _you_ certainly don't! He doesn't even want you Tanya! So. Get. Over. It!" She had moved in front of me so I put my arm in front of me and nudged her out of the way.

"Ugh!! You bitch!!" I heard her shriek and then felt my feet move out from underneath me.

I hurt. Everywhere. Everything was starting to blur around me and the last thing I remember was Alice screaming my name.

EPOV

This game was lame.

I don't know of any school that sucked so badly. It wouldn't have been so bad if they weren't cutting in on my Bella time. She was sitting in the stands having fun and I had to chase these losers around the floor.

I started to actually get bored, so Emmett, Jazz, and me decided to have a little fun. We were throwing slam-dunks, alley oops, circus shots, turn around-jump shots, and we even made up some of our own plays. One is where we would run down the court just tossing the ball between each other continuously until we got to the basket, and one where we would get in a line and throw the ball to hit the backboard, and the last person would dunk it.

After the final buzzer went off the crowd stormed the court again like the last game. People kept coming up to me and letting me know how great of a job I did and how entertaining we were. I politely thanked them as quickly as I could. All I wanted to do was find Bella, but it was impossible to get through the sea of fans.

I spotted her still up in the stands walking down the steps and started over in her way.

"Where are you off to so fast?" a sickenly sweet voice asked from behind me.

She grabbed my arm with a tiny hand and turned me to face her.

"Hello Jessica." I faked a smile.

"Oh Edward! You were absolutely extraordinary tonight!" Jessica batted her eyes at me like in a movie.

"Thanks. I really ha-"

She cut me off, "So I was wondering _Edward_," I think my name was meant to sound like a purr, but actually came out freakishly creepy, "the sixth grade dance is coming up and I don't have a date…"

_No freaking way! _

"And I was hoping you could escort me? I mean I would totally like be the most popular girl in school if an eleventh grader was my date!" she squealed.

"I'm sorry Jessica, but I don't think my girlfriend would like that very much." I tried to be polite, but she was making it very difficult.

"GIRLFRIEND?!" she screamed. "Since when were you not single? Because last time _I_ checked you weren't!"

People around us started staring because of her high volume. Luckily Jasper was nearby and came over to save me with a very annoyed Alice following.

"Excuse me Jessica?" Jasper asked calmly.

"Yes?" she hissed back.

"Do _not_ use that tone with him! Who do-" Alice interjected, but didn't get to say whatever she wanted to next because Jasper strapped his hand over her mouth.

"Don't mind her," he reassured and earned a scowl from Alice, "I was wanting to know if you knew a Jonathan Newton?"

Her face brightened slightly, "Of course! I asked him to the fifth grade dance _last_ year."

Unbelievable.

"Well he was telling me about his younger brother Mike…do you know him to?"

"Yes." She answered calmly now.

"Apparently Mike was planning on asking _you_ to the dance…but you didn't hear it form me!" Jazz held his free hand up in surrender mode.

"Really?" she whispered.

"Uh huh!" I added maybe a little to hastily. "You know Jessica, I wouldn't be too hurt if you wanted to go with Mike instead of me…"

"You're the best Edward! And if things don't work out with Mike and me I'll let you know!" she winked as she started walking away calling for poor Mike.

I think I might hurl…

"Thanks man." I slapped Jasper on the back.

"Anytime brother." He smiled and freed Alice's mouth.

"Seriously Jazzy?! Was that really necessary?" she scowled wiping her lips with her sleeve. "Your hand is all sweaty and gross!"

"I know." He cheekily grinned back.

"Ugh! I'm gonna go find Bella and Rose." She stomped away mumbling about how stupid and dirty boys were.

"You better go after her or you're going to pay for that later." I reminded him.

"Probably…" he sighed, "But Alice is hot when she's angry." Jasper mused aloud and then followed the path Alice took off the court.

I was still making my way towards Bella when I heard someone scream.

"_Ahhh!_ Oh my gosh! Bella!" Alice.

I started pushing through the various people urgently and finally made found an opening. But there were more people huddled around in a circle. I was afraid to see what was in the middle.

I heard Emmett yelling for me and I dove into the huddle until I reached the opening.

My heart sank.

Bella was on the floor. Unconscious.

Jasper was knelt beside her listening for her heartbeat and pulse. I was mentally relieved a little when I saw her chest slightly move up and down with each breath she took. A very panicked Alice was on the phone with what I hoped was 911 or Bella's parents. Rosalie was yelling at Tanya for some reason while Emmett actually had Rose's hands behind her back and tried to calm her down.

_I _was numb.

I slowly walked over to Bella's side and grabbed her hand.

"What happened?" I choked out.

"She fell down the steps of the bleachers." Jasper replied carefully.

I suddenly had a wave of terror wash over me.

"Someone call 911 or the paramedics! Now!!" I felt around for my phone, not remembering I was still in uniform.

Jasper reached out and grabbed my shoulders. "Alice did. They're on their way. She's on the phone with Renee right now. Also, Dad knows and is on his way to the hospital to get a room ready for her so we don't waste any time."

"How?" Was all I managed to get out before I felt the tears well up in my eyes.

"I have no clue. I think Rosalie saw what went down, but Alice only saw the part where Bella fell."

"Who?"

He only needed to say one thing. "Tanya."

Scenarios started flashing through my head. They began as what had happened between Tanya and Bella that caused this, but then transformed into Bella in the hospital, Bella in a coma, Bella never waking up.

I felt a single tear fall from my face and landed on Bella's cheek.

I softly kissed it away and then rubbed circles on the back of her hand.

"Stay with me Bella. You're going to be okay."

I heard her voice. It didn't come from her lifeless form because I had been watching her. It must just be in my head. But it kept asking the same question.

"Really?"

"Really Really." I answered. It made me smile for just a second, reminding me of our 'saying' we always used.

The ambulance arrived shortly and made everyone but some of the school staff and the five of us leave.

The carefully loaded Bella onto a stretcher after making sure her back wasn't broken. They did, however think she did some damage to her leg.

One of the paramedics came up to me and asked where her guardians were.

"Alice, where are Bella's parents?"

"They just called and said they would meet us at the hospital because all the traffic from the game is blocking the entrance to the school." She informed the man.

"Who are you in relation to Isabella?" he asked.

"I'm _Bella's_ best friend and this is her boyfriend." She corrected him, knowing how she hated being called Isabella.

"Okay then, you two will ride in the back with Bella along with me." He ushered us towards the truck.

It pained me to leave Bella's side but we had to make sure they didn't hurt her when they hoisted Bella into the back.

I immediately clasped her hand.

"She's going to be okay, Edward." Alice told me softly as she put a caring arm around my shoulder.

"I hope your right. I hope _she's_ all right." I replied numbly.

The paramedic was on some sort of walkie-talkie discussing Bella's injuries.

"We believe this patient has at least a fractured bone in her leg and possible head trauma." He relayed to the person on the other end.

Head trauma? Fractured bone?

I immediately thought of everything Bella would miss out on. She probably wouldn't be able to finish the season. After she was all excited to get back on the court. This stupid accident ruined everything.

That reminded me of something. "Alice? How did Bella fall down the stairs?"

She looked over at Bella and then anger flashed across her face. "Tanya was talking to her about something, and Bella didn't want to listen anymore so she tried nudging Tanya out of her way. Tanya got even madder than she was before and pushed Bella. I guess she couldn't catch herself and tumbled down the steps. At least that's the story I got from Rose. I wasn't there when it happened." Alice started crying and I used my free hand to hug her.

"I just wish I was there. I could have stopped this from happening." She motioned to Bella's form.

"Don't blame yourself Alice. This was Tanya's fault. But I guess I know how you feel…you love her and you just feel if you had been there you could have kept this from happening to her. She didn't do anything! Why Bella?" I started sobbing. Something I hadn't done since the dance that took Bella away from me the first time.

Alice sat there gaping at me. I knew I never cried in front of her, but this was no time to be shocked.

"What did you just say Edward?"

I was confused, "What do you mean?"

"You just said you loved her?"

_Wait…I love Bella…? Did I just say that? I love Bella…I love Bella Swan…I love Isabella Marie Swan…I do! I LOVE HER!_

"I do! Alice! I love Bella!" I was smiling at her until I remembered the situation. "I just wish I could tell her…"

She wrapped her tiny arms around me and whispered in my ear, "You will tell her Edward. You'll get a chance to tell her. She's going to wake up. She's going to be fine. Then she's going to love you back and you will be together forever."

"You think?" I asked solemnly.

"I am Mary Alice Brandon. I don't think. I know." She smiled as we pulled up to the Emergency Room doors.

All too suddenly they whisked Bella away behind the white walls for x-rays and various tests. I watched as they wheeled her past the double doors.

"You'll be fine. I'll be the first face you see when you wake up. I promise. I love you." I whispered.

Again, I heard her ask that all to familiar question.

"Really?"

"Really Really."

I didn't know what Bella's voice actually asked about. Was it if she would really be okay? If she would really wake up? Or if I really loved her? It didn't matter. The same answer applied to each.

She would really really be okay.

She would really really wake up.

I really really loved her.

I felt another tear escape my eyes as I trudged over to the uncomfortable vinyl chairs.

**A/N: Okay...hit or miss? I know i did something else to hinder ExB's relationship but as you can see it made it a lot stronger...**

**So favorite quote...part...? And I added a twist! What was your least favorite part? Lemme know why you didn't like it so if it has something to do with my writing I can fix it :P**

**My favorite part: Rose's story about how Emmett told her he loved her and then ran away :P and "I am Mary Alice Brandon. I don't think. I know."**

**Least favorite: The part with Jessica (blech!) I needed to end things with her so you weren't all hanging wondering whatever happened to her infatuation with our dear Edward. lol**

**And everyone remember to follow me on twitter!! lleighh or twitter . com / lleighh**

**I might start posting quotes from the recent chapter i'm working on as hints to whats happening next (: (yes I am bribing you all to follow me haha)**

**Please Review!! :)**

**LOVE YOU!!**

** lleighh;;**


	18. I am in a meadow

**A/N: Hey! Fanfiction being dumb on your computer too? or is it just mine?**

**So a few things about this chapter, its a little different from others. not as long as my usual but there is a lot of details to pay attention to! is ALL bella's POV she's unconcious, but she is aware of certain things... the last chapter in mind as you read this also gives hints to next chapter...just an fyi :P**

**Keep in mind...**

** chapter  
might happen in next chapter  
attention to details they may come up again later  
being had in this chapter (i think they're pretty important at least :P)**

**okay...that's all :)**

**Enjoy!**

BPOV

I am in a meadow.

It looks like a place that could be hidden within the Forks' forests.

Dew is covering the grass and soaking through my tennis shoes.

I look down.

I'm still in Edward's jersey and the jeans I painted.I wonder how I got here.

I have no idea what time it is.

I look up towards the sky. It's slightly overcast. I hear crickets singing and birds chirping. There's still a slight sting of cold air as the wind whips my hair around.

My guess is around 5:30 a.m.Never been up this early before…

It's kind of beautiful actually.

I should wake up at this time everyday…pshh! Like that will ever happen.

I decide my legs are tired from standing, so I walk over to the middle of the clearing and sit on the light blue blanket.Huh. Didn't see this a second ago…why is it so itchy?

I sit there for a while and stare into space.

Then I hear voices nearby.

I get up and walk towards the sounds.

I see two familiar faces hovering over something out of my eye line.

Jasper and Edward.

I hate to eavesdrop, but I can't help myself.

"What happened?" Edward looked up at Jasper with a pained face.

"She fell down the steps of the bleachers."

"Someone call 911 or the paramedics! Now!!"

"Alice did. They're on their way. She's on the phone with Renee right now. Also, Dad knows and is on his way to the hospital to get a room ready for her so we don't waste any time."

"How?" he choked out.

"I have no clue. I think Rosalie saw what went down, but Alice only saw the part where Bella fell."

"Who?"

"Tanya." Jasper looked down with sad eyes.

Edward followed Jasper's gaze, "Stay with me Bella. You're going to be okay.""Really?" I had to ask. He thought I was hurt. I was fine. I'm just standing right behind him.

"Really Really." He answered with a ghost of my favorite smile.

I thought he would turn around at the sound of my voice.

I thought this was all a big joke on Edward. Sure it was a mean joke, but still couldn't he hear me? He did answer me back…

"_Edward…turn around."_ I called out.

No response.

I blinked once. When I opened my eyes Jasper was no longer there.

In his place was a small pixie girl.

Alice.

She and Edward had their backs facing me and were sitting on some sort of bench now.

"She's going to be okay, Edward." Alice told him softly and flung a comforting arm around his shoulder.

"I hope your right. I hope _she's_ all right." He sat there for a moment staring down at the object in front of them. "Alice? How did Bella fall down the stairs?"

If that silly pixie didn't talk so fast I might've heard what was wrong. I might have figured out why all the people I cared about were sad.

I heard Tanya come up a few times. I realized if she was involved it couldn't be good.

"I just wish I was there. I could have stopped this from happening." Alice motioned to the mystery object.

"Don't blame yourself Alice. This was Tanya's fault. But I guess I know how you feel…you love her and you just feel if you had been there you could have kept this from happening to her. She didn't do anything! Why Bella?" Edward started crying.

It broke my heart.

Alice turned her head as her jaw hit the floor. "What did you just say Edward?"

His brow furrowed, "What do you mean?"

"You just said you loved her?"

_He loves me?_

"I do! Alice! I love Bella! I just wish I could tell her…" he was excited at first but then turned back the that damn thing I couldn't see! His eyes filled with moisture again.

She wrapped her tiny arms around me him and whispered something in his ear.

"You think?" he asked solemnly.

"I am Mary Alice Brandon. I don't think. I know." I laughed at Alice's confidence. It seemed to brighten up Edward's face for a millisecond.

They started to walk through a pair of double doors. The secret item was wheeled in too.

I was so confused. Where were they going? Why were they leaving me?"WAIT!! EDWARD!! ALICE!!"

I tried to run towards him but something pulled me back.

As I whisked through the air I started crying.

I want him to come back. I want him to see that I'm okay. I want him to see I'm right behind him. I want him to tell me he loves me.

The tears flowed freely.

I didn't know exactly what I was crying about.

"Maybe because he couldn't hear me. Maybe because he was crying. Mostly, because he disappeared through the doors. The doors that I couldn't see anymore. The doors that took him from me. I hated being without him.

"Come back…come back Edward."

I whispered to no one.

"I love you too."

I had stopped moving.

I turned to see where I was.

I hadn't moved very far.

I was back in the middle of the meadow.

But instead of the blue blanket sat a white bed.

I climbed over its odd railings and curled up under the sheets.

They were itchy too.

I closed my eyes and imagined who I wish was here right now.

I heard my Edward's soothing voice.

"You'll be fine. I'll be the first face you see when you wake up. I promise. I love you." He whispered.

I asked again to make sure."Really?"

"Really Really." He replied again.

I didn't know exactly what I asked him about. I guess it was a mixture.

Would I really be fine?

Would he really be there when I woke up in this foreign meadow?

Did he really love me?

I decided to apply his answer to all three.

I would really really be fine.

He would really really be there when I awoke.

He really really loved me.

I smiled at the thought.

Edward and I are in love.

He never said anything after that.

I heard new sounds though.

Beeping.

I felt things.

Poking and tugging.

People started crying.

People started talking.

I hear a variety of deep and high-pitched voices.

But see no faces.

Everything was too bright.

Fluorescent light bright.

I can't bring myself to open my eyes and see where the source of this blinding light is coming from.

I suddenly feel a touch on my hand.

It's warm.

I wish silently that it doesn't go away.

It feels familiar. Comforting in a way.

Soon the voices fade out.

The bright light dims.

The poking has ceased.

The beeping remains, unfortunately.

But so does the touch.

I smile inwardly.

I wish to go to sleep but the beeps still ring in my ears.

I try to open my eyes, but I can't. They're too heavy.

I give up trying.

I focus on the touch.

That warm, loving touch.

It reminds me of Edward.

My first love.

I pictured him in my mind.

The first day we met. The feel of his arms wrapped around me. The way he moves on the court. His crooked grin. His musical laugh. His smooth voice.

I hear him.

I hear Edward.

He's talking to me.

"Bella…I don't know if you can actually hear me but I need to tell you something..." He hesitated for a moment, "its important."I'm listening…

"I don't know if I'll be able to tell you this when you're looking at me the way you do. I'll get too nervous and chicken out." He chuckled darkly. "But you need to know that I am completely, head over heels, in love with you Bella."

I know. I love you too.

"I won't know what to do if you're not okay. You are my life now. You are my everything. Please wake up. For me."

I'm trying Edward. I want to but I can't.

I felt a tingling sensation sweep across my face.

Then like a jolt a rush of electricity coursed through my veins.

That only meant one thing.

Edward.

His lips.

On mine.

It reminded me of those hospital shows where they have those metal blocks.

They rub them together, call out 'Clear!' and then place them on the unconscious body in hopes of restarting their heart beat or pulse, or something like that…

That's what it felt like.

Only not painful.

It made me feel energized.

I waited until he pulled away, the tingle finding its way back to my face again.

I had so much energy stored in me now.

I waited until I could feel it reach my eyelids.

I finally built up enough to slowly open them up.

What did they reveal?

A dark room.

Itchy sheets.

A white bed.

Tubes connected to my body.

A beeping machine to my left.

A hand holding my right.

And sure enough…

Familiar green eyes.

Just inches from my face.

Many emotions flashed through them.

Disbelief, stun, happiness, worry, relief, but mostly love.

Edward was there when I woke up.

**A/N: Sooo?? Cliffy!! sorry i had to do it :P **

**What did you think? I tried to keep it light hearted as much as I could... idk if the little quirky parts i put in there were funny or not lol **

**Okay favorite part...line...quote? Least favorite? and Hit or miss? I know this is a different style of chapter than usual... **

**Favorite: When Bella loves Edward back...everyone together!! "AWWWWW!!" :P im a dork... i know **

**Least Favorite: When I read back through it i think i used the "really really" bit a little too much...do you think i did? or just the right amount? or too little? haha lemme know :) **

**Review Please!! **

**LOVE YOU!! **

**lleighh;;**


	19. I am at the hospital

**A/N: Hey!**

**lovely reviews last chapter :) and I'm sure I will please you all with this one :P **

**That's all...go!!**

EPOV

I am at the hospital.

The walls were an off-white color. Not exactly a pure white, but more of an eggshell or cream. There was a light blue-gray border along the top and base of each wall also. The uncomfortable chairs matched the border perfectly. The tiles on the floor had a fake marble look to them. They too had the coal-blue color to them.

I had been sitting in this waiting room for what felt like months. Apparently Bella was having tests being run and x-rays taken to figure out what was actually wrong with her.

My eyes darted around the small area, jumping at any sound coming from those doors. The same ones Bella went through earlier.

It didn't help my anxious state that there was absolutely _nothing to do_. The only magazines set out were about healthcare or home decorating.

I began drumming my fingers on the arm of my chair.

"Edward…" Alice warned me to stop.

_Whoa...forgot she was sitting there._

I mumbled some sort of apology and tried to quit fidgeting.

It was hopeless.

I bounced my leg up and down.

Alice put a hand on my knee to stop.

I clicked my tongue repeatedly.

She chucked me a piece of gum to keep my mouth busy.

I started to blow bubbles.

Alice popped them.

I cracked my knuckles.

She made me sit on my hands.

This only took up a course of five minutes…

Without warning, the automatic entrance doors slid open. They revealed Bella's parent's, Esme soothingly trying to calm down Renee, and a very worried Angela, Ben, Jasper, and Emmett. Rosalie was still fuming, most likely about Tanya.

Renee burst into tears and ran to my side.

She pulled me into a hug and blubbered, "Bella is strong, she'll be okay."

I didn't know if she was trying to comfort herself or me.

Charlie walked over with droopy eyes and gave me a supportive pat on the back and a forced half-smile as Renee released me.

The rest all went and sat by Alice, giving me my space. Except for my mom.

Esme walked up and pulled me over to another section of plastic-covered chairs.

"Don't worry Edward." She softly rubbed a hand on my arm, "Bella just took a nasty spill."

Frightening scenarios flashed through my mind again. "But she hasn't woken up yet…what if she never does?? I won't know what to do without her!" I quietly panicked.

She lightly slapped my forearm, "Edward Anthony! _Do not _think like that! Bella will walk away from this. Do you hear me?"

I just nodded and slumped back into my chair.

I stared at the doors again, hoping Bella would just walk out casually like nothing had happened. She would have that gorgeous smile on her face and sparkling eyes. I would run to her and latch on to her small form, promising to never let go. Ever. Again.

No such luck.

I glanced up at the clock. I had only been here an hour. It felt like a week.

As my gaze fell back to the floor I heard the swish of doors swinging open.

I whipped my head up to see my father standing in the threshold.

He had a small smile painted over his features and kept looking between the ten of us that crowded the waiting room.

He lifted a hand and motioned for us to come. Esme patted my shoulder as only Renee, Charlie, Alice, Rosalie, and myself stood up.

We followed him down the small hallway to room 102. The door slowly swung open, exposing my Bella. She was lying calmly in the hospital bed. Tubes strapped to every inch of her body.

I stayed back as Renee and Charlie approached her sleeping state.

"She has a pretty good concussion, but other than that no head trauma. Her right leg is fractured in three different places also…" my father informed us all softly.

"How long…" I trailed off not even having to finish my sentence. Carlisle answered immediately.

"Possibly the rest of tonight and a good portion of tomorrow. Bella is still knocked out from earlier. She's had a small dose of painkillers already but not enough to make her drowsy so we just have to wait for her to come around in her own time." He relayed.

"So what do we do now?" Charlie sighed.

"We wait." Carlisle admitted.

I barely heard him because my focus was on Bella.

Her chocolate brown hair was fanned across the lumpy pillow and her face still had the same tint of pink. There was a small bandage wrapped around her head, and a big bulk hidden under the sheets where her right leg lay.

I decided to let Mr. and Mrs. Swan have some time alone with Bella, so Rose, Alice, and I retreated back to the front entrance.

"How she look?" my mother asked just above a whisper.

"Beautiful." I replied confidently.

She snickered quietly, "I meant her injuries Edward."

"A concussion…and her right leg is fractured in three places." I repeated what Carlisle had told us.

"That's not too bad." Esme smiled.

"Yeah, I guess. But dad said she was still knocked out from the fall and estimated she wouldn't wake up until tomorrow night." I informed her dropping my head to my hands.

"Well that was to be expected honey. She suffered a lot of pain."

I just nodded and went back to massaging my temples.

I wasn't keeping track of time, but at some point Esme, Emmett, Jasper, Angela, and Ben went to go visit Bella.

Rosalie and Alice were whispering in the corner. I heard a gasp and then felt two pairs of eyes staring intently at me.

Rosalie was first to break the silence, "You love her." It wasn't a question.

I let out a big breath and lifted my head, "Yeah, I do."

"When are you going to tell Bella?"

"I'm not sure, I haven't really had time to think about it…" I trailed off chuckling to myself. I don't know why it wasn't even funny… I had been sitting in this room for god knows how long…I had had plenty of time to think about it.

"I think you should as soon as possible!" Alice squealed.

"I don't think so, Alice. She'll be all loopy from the meds." Rosalie interjected.

"I will tell her. Don't worry about it. That's my job." I chuckled again at how un-funny my statement was.

_What is wrong with me? I must be tired. Going crazy from lack of sleep…and Bella. I groaned realizing what was actually wrong. I was having withdrawal effects._

Alice must have noticed my odd behavior. "Edward you should try and take a nap. It's…" she glanced at her phone, "almost 12:00 a.m."

I shook my head vigorously, "No…not until I know Bella is awake and okay."

"That won't be for a while Edward. You heard your dad, she'll be past out until tomorrow night." Rosalie argued.

"What about you two? Don't you need sleep?" I quipped back.

"Yes. We're going to go home in an hour, after we say bye to Bella. But I know you already planned to stay the whole night. You can't fool me Cullen!" Alice pointed a finger at me.

I didn't feel like fighting them, especially in full on 'You know we're right' mode. Rosalie had her hands planted firmly on her hips motioning with her eyes from me to the couch on the other wall. Alice still had her finger in my face.

"Fine. But you have to promise to wake me up when you go in to see Bella again." I bargained.

"We promise lover boy." Rosalie smiled and went back to reading her magazine.

Not too long later I felt a light tap on my shoulder.

"Eddieee. Eddddiiiieeeee. Wake uuupppp." Emmett sang in my ear.

"Is she up yet?" I asked groggily, rubbing my eyes.

Emmett laughed, "No Romeo, you were only asleep for about twenty minutes."

I sat there and stared at him as I became alert again, "Romeo?" I asked confused.

"Ha! Oh yeah, the girls filled me in on your _looovve_ for Bells." He teased.

"Shut up and answer me. Do I get to see Bella now?" I asked through clenched teeth.

Emmett just chuckled, "Yeah cupid, go ahead." I shot him a glare before I dashed off.

I walked in to find Renee and Charlie picking up their things.

"Oh there you are dear! We're going to go home and get a few of Bella's things. We'll be back in about an hour and a half. What would you like for supper?" Renee asked sweetly.

"Supper?"

Her tinkling laugh sounded very amused, "Yes Edward, I'm sure you haven't eaten since before your game and you must be starving! So while I'm at home I was going to whip up a few things to bring you and Bella. I figured you were planning on staying when I saw you camped out on the couch." She winked playfully.

"Yeah…" I admitted sheepishly, "If that's alright…?"

"Of course! Charlie and I don't think we'll spend the night and it'd be nice to know someone is with Bella. And I'm sure she'd rather you be here than us." I blushed and heard Charlie laugh out 'Ain't that the truth.'

"Well I'm not picky Mrs. Swan. You can just make me whatever Bella is having."

She smiled sincerely and hugged me once more. "Renee, please. I'm so glad Bella found someone like you."

She let go and walked through the door. Charlie approached me and patted my shoulder with an approving smile. I said goodbye and pulled up a chair beside Bella's bed.

I detached the railing on the side and grabbed the hand without an IV poked through it.

I laced my fingers through hers and rubbed circles on the back of her hand.

_I wish you were awake…I really want to talk to you. There is something you need to know. The thing is, I basically love you to pieces and I'm almost positive everyone knows except you…I thought as I stared at her eyelids, trying to connect with my powers that magically awake people._

I sat there and thought of the different ways to tell her.

_I could plan a date and take her somewhere nice…no that would take too long to plan. I could text her it while she's standing right in front of me…nope already did that. Gah! This is ridiculous! Just tell her. If she loves you too she won't care how or where you tell her!_

_Wait…does she love me back? She's got to. She does…I hope…No! No, no, no! Don't think about that, just tell her! You'll psych yourself out and then never tell her how you feel! No. Think about how relieved you'll feel that she finally knows…_

I tried to get my mind off the fact that Bella might not love me back but it was hopeless.

I finally rested my head on stiff mattress, my hand still attached to Bella's, and drifted into a dreamless sleep.

I woke up to the smell of breakfast.

_Pancakes…_

_Hash browns…_

_Eggs…_

_…Bacon!_

That was my cue to wake up.

I lifted my head and saw four women staring at me.

"Morning…" I grumbled.

"Well, good morning to you too sunshine." Rosalie replied sarcastically.

"We have breakfast Edward." Renee called. I reluctantly detached from Bella and grabbed the plate Esme held out for me.

"Thank you Renee, this looks great. Sorry I fell asleep before you got back last night…" I apologized.

"Oh no worries. I actually had fun making all of Bella's favorites! Maybe the smell will wake her up." She snickered.

"Maybe…" I laughed with her and sat back in my spot by Bella.

"So anything happen while we were gone?" Alice asked curiously.

I glanced over at Bella and back to Alice, "No, just sleeping."

She just nodded her head 'okay'.

I finished my meal in record time and latched back on to Bella.

"So any word on what happened after we left in the ambulance last night?" I asked Alice.

"Yeah, Tanya got suspended for like three months, but her parents just decided to send her to boarding school the remainder of the year. But that's not the best part…" she smiled, her eyes gleaming.

"What?"

"Its an all-girl reform school! And they have to wear uniforms too!" she squealed happily.

"Good. She deserves it." I smiled too.

"Wait! There's more, Tanya has to work as a janitor's assistant at the school to pay her parents back for Bella's medical bill!" she clapped her hands again.

"I thought the Swan's didn't press charges…"

"No but Tanya's parents insisted on paying."

"Oh." Was my brilliant reply.

"I'm sure Bella will be ecstatic when she hears. Maybe even more than Alice." Rose chuckled at the little pixie hopping around joyfully.

My brothers came shortly after breakfast carrying board games and movies.

"What is all this?" I asked staring at the piles in each of their hands.

"Entertainment." Jasper shrugged.

We spent most of the day watching movies and playing a few board games. I mostly sat out for the games because it was hard to play with only one hand and there was no way I was going to let go of Bella.

Nurses had come and gone to check on Bella, all saying she was coming along fine. Whatever that meant…

Around six in the evening Renee left to take some of the dirty dishes she brought food in home and wait for Charlie so they could come back together. Everyone else went home shortly after that to eat supper and would return later.

It was just Bella and I alone. I turned off the movies because they didn't hold my attention anymore and just listened to Bella's breaths.

_Might as well practice…_ I thought looking around to make sure everyone had actually left.

"Bella…I don't know if you can actually hear me but I need to tell you something..." I took a moment to mentally prepare for what I was about to say, "its important."

"I'm listening…" I imagined her say to me.

"I don't know if I'll be able to tell you this when you're looking at me the way you do. I'll get too nervous and chicken out." I chuckled darkly. "But you need to know that I am completely, head over heels, in love with you Bella."

"I love you too." Imaginary Bella-in-my-head replied.

"I won't know what to do if you're not okay. You are my life now. You are my everything. Please wake up. For me."

I watched for a moment hoping that my words would magically wake her up.

Nothing.

I stared at her for a moment longer.

_She really is the most beautiful girl I've ever seen…_

Without much thought I placed my body above hers, careful not to force any of my weight on Bella.

I leaned in and hesitated for a moment as my breath blew across her face.

Then I kissed her.

Not just any kiss, but the most romantic, epic fairytale, movie-worthy kiss you have ever seen.

I pulled away but stayed hovering over her.

My heart suddenly burst into hysterics.

"Edward…" Bella mumbled sleepily.

Part of my worry came from the fact that she hadn't been sleep talking like normal. I thought she might actually have been in a deeper sleep than all the doctors and nurses were thinking. It felt like a huge weight lifted off my heart, not my shoulders, heart.

She repositioned her body slightly and then her eyes lazily opened.

I had no words. This was too good to be true. I must be dreaming.

"Bella?" I asked carefully.

"Edward!" She lifted threw her arms around my neck and pulled me down in a bug hug.

"Bella…I was so worried." I felt my eyes well up but was determined to not let them spill over.

"Ouch!" she shrieked, surprised.

I immediately lifted myself off her fragile body and checked for anything I may have hurt.

She was rubbing the top of her hand, "Sorry…I forgot about the IV…" she smiled sheepishly.

I snickered and leaned down again.

"I'm so glad your okay." I whispered before crashing my lips to hers.

This time she kissed me back and I felt an adrenaline rush move through me.

"Mmm," she hummed, "I'll have Tanya push me down more often if this is how you act when I wake up." She smiled sweetly.

"Not a chance. Tanya is never going to even look in your direction ever again." I sighed, slightly frustrated that she could joke about it already.

"I was only kidding Edward." It felt so good to hear her say my name again.

"I know, but you should have seen me…I was a wreck! Ask Alice and Rose…"

"I believe you." She smirked.

Bella wriggled form my grasp and scooted over to the far side of her bed and patted the empty space.

"Bella, this bed is hardly big enough." I was afraid I would hurt her even more somehow. I tried to argue,. But it was a lie; there was nothing more I wanted to do than hold her in my arms again.

"There is enough room for two of you Edward! Come here now." She demanded.

_Well I can't say no to that…_

I climbed into the bed and wrapped my arms protectively around her.

We sat there and talked about what all we did while she was sleeping and what happened after she past out.

I winced at the memories, but Bella wanted to know so I told her.

I saved the bit about Tanya's punishment for Alice to explain.

_Speak of the devil_, she strutted in the door with a few more movies stacked in her hands.

Her eyes reached Bella's and she chucked the videos aside and sprinted over to her side.

"BELLA!! Your awake!!!" she kept repeating excitedly.

"What is all th-…No way! BELLS! _YOUR ALIVE_!" Emmett yelled dramatically.

Before she could open her mouth to speak Rosalie and Jasper filed in.

"Geez we could hear you two all the way in the parking lot!" Rosalie scolded.

Jasper stood frozen, only to extend an elbow out to nudge Rose and then point to a blushing Bella.

"Hey everybody…" she greeted them softly.

"BELLA!! OH MY GOSH!!" Rose ran over and hugged her with much enthusiasm.

"Have a nice nap?" Jasper smirked.

For some reason Bella looked up at me and smiled, "The best." She answered seriously.

I figured I better call in one of the nurses to check on Bella and then call her parents.

While the nurse took her temperature, blood pressure, and all that routine stuff I dialed the Swan's house.

The lady was just leaving when Renee answered the phone, "Hello?"

I swiftly tossed the phone to Bella.

"Hi mom." She immediately pulled the phone away from her ear.

I could hear Renee screaming all the way from my side of the room.

Then there was silence on the other line. Bella just shrugged and handed me back my phone.

Minutes later Renee came barreling through the hallways.

"My baby!!" she cried as she ran over to Bella and hugged her tightly.

Charlie followed and gave Bella a kiss on her forehead. "How are you feeling kid?"

"Pretty good actually. My leg hurts, but its manageable." She sighed.

The next hour was filled with hugs, tears, laughter, and conversation.

I called Esme, Angela, and Ben and when I told them Bella was awake they quickly hurried over.

Coach Clapp even came to visit.

"Hello Bella. How are you?"

"I'm feeling better." This was the answer she had been giving ever since the fifth person had asked.

"Well I heard about your leg and I would like you to lay off of it for as much as you need. I expect you to be up and ready to go as soon as that brace comes off." She winked and made a little small talk before she left.

Bella looked beat as I saw her eyes droop and her head fall back against her pillow.

"You should get some rest, love."

Her eyes got a little wide for a millisecond before they returned to normal. I pretended not to notice.

"I have no idea why I'm so tired if I spent a whole 21 hours sleeping." She let out a frustrated sigh.

"Well you fell down a flight of stairs…"

She snickered, "Yeah…almost forgot about that."

It was quiet for a little while as I returned to my chair by her bed.

"Stay with me please." She whispered.

"I will. Forever." _I love you._

She yanked the hand I had in hers, inviting me to join her on the bed.

I happily agreed and snuggled close to her.

My hand snaked around her waist and she rested her head on my chest.

With out thinking I blurted out, "Bella I-" but caught myself.

I couldn't tell her now, Rosalie's 'loopy' comment played back through my brain.

"Yes Edward?" she asked yawning.

"I just wanted you to know I…missed you. A lot."

I could tell she was smiling by the sound of her voice. "I missed you more."

I snorted, "Doubt it."

She buried her face in the crook of my neck, "Goodnight Bella."

"'Night Edward."

_I love you…I'm just too chicken to say it…_

**A/N: How was it??**

**You know the drill!**

**Favorite: It's a three-way tie between when Edward was bugging Alice in the waiting room, when Emmett was like YOUR ALIVE!!, and when Rosalie was like "she'll be all loopy from the meds"**

**Least: That Edward hasn't told her he loved her yet...i know i control that but i just didn't feel it in this chapter :P**

**And i have a poll up on my profile...yes or no, should I change the title of the story? I was thinking something like "Everytime We Touch" or something that has to do with an electric shock...since everytime they kiss/touch they get 'electrocuted.' If the yes vote wins i'll have another poll up soon to vote on a title :)**

**I just think that the 5551073 title is confusing...like people think its the story id # or something like that. Plus its not that easy to remember :P**

**Please Review!!! I love when I open my e-mail and I have like 80+ unread messages all about fanfiction :P**

**LOVE YOU!!**

** lleighh;;**


	20. MrWalter the Worrier

**A/N Heyy!**

**So far in the poll the yes votes are winning! So if you don't want the name changed go vote!**

**Also...I listened to music while writing this chapter (something i've never done because i found it distracts me, but i was in the mood today haha), and the songs that got me through it were Smile-Uncle Kracker, Clair De Lune-Debussy (lol i decided to listen to it and i actually really like it), Everytime we Touch-Cascada (i might change the title to this...not sure...), A Praise Chorus-Jimmy Eat World, She's Everything-Brad Paisley, and Must Have Done Something Right- Relient K.**

**Just in case you were wondering :P**

**I think you'll like this chapter ;)... **

BPOV

The nurse had just finished her routine checks on me when the best sentence I heard all week left her mouth.

"Looks like your free to go." She smiled watching my reaction.

I just about jumped her I was so happy.

She informed my parents, and while they were filling out all the release forms, a different nurse came in to relieve me of all the tubes and cords.

I lunged for my bag of clothes Renee brought me so I could get out of this awful hospital gown.

The brace on my leg made things way more difficult to walk as I hobbled over to the door to lock it. I had to watch my feet to make sure I didn't trip over my own feet and break the other leg.

Edward must have been just getting back from the cafeteria with the juice I sent him for when I collided right into him.

Luckily, the juice was in a bottle.

Luckily, Edward has fast reflexes.

He caught me right before I made contact with the floor. I blushed at the close proximity of our bodies and how my gown didn't have much of a backside while I mumbled a quiet thanks.

Then all hell broke loose.

"Why aren't you in bed?! Did you remove everything yourself? What's with the bag? Bella! Are you trying to escape the hospital?! Bella they hooked you up to all those tubes for a reason! You can't just go and take them off because they annoy you or something! You can't just get up and leave when you've been emitted into a hospital!"

Alice decided to waltz in at this moment.

"Isabella!" she scolded, "You get back in that bed this instant! Edward is right! What if all of the sudden that pain medicine they were giving you through the IV wears off and your head or leg hurts so much that you pass out?! I don't think any of us would be able to go through you getting knocked unconscious again. Especially Mr. Walter the Worrier over here." She nudged Edward who had been agreeing with everything Alice was saying until she made fun of him.

He just sent her a 'not funny' look and turned back to me, "Bella just put the bag down and go get back in bed. I'll go get the nurse to hook everything back up. Alice you stay here and make sure Bella doesn't try to make a break for it again."

I just stood there dumbfounded. Sheesh, you'd think they'd be happy to see me walking around with a huge smile on my face considering my injuries…

Edward turned to walk out the door when I grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"If you would quit accusing me of being a runaway patient now, I could explain." I said irritated.

Alice opened her mouth to speak but I placed a finger over her lips before she had the chance.

"It just so happens that the nurse herself removed all the equipment and I am free to go. Now, I was about to go change out of this uncomfortable hospital gown before you came in and started freaking out! So if you could please exit my room right now, that would be greatly appreciated." I stepped around them and ushered a hand showing them exactly where they could exit.

They both left the room with slightly confused and embarrassed faces.

I changed quickly into what my mother brought, and thank goodness it was a pair of sweat pants, because I don't think my leg would have fit in my jeans.

I opened the door again and found my parents on the other side.

"Everything is taken care of honey. Get your things and we can leave as soon as you want." Renee informed me.

I hurriedly grabbed the only bag I had and chucked the gown in the trashcan.

"Ready!" I smiled and limped over towards them.

My dad chuckled as I slowly passed him and then held out a pair of crutches.

"You're going to need these kiddo." He laughed again.

I unenthusiastically took them and handed my bag off to Charlie. The crutches did help with my speed, but I could tell my armpits were going to be sore.

We reached the front desk and saw Carlisle and Esme waiting.

"I'm going to have a meeting with Coach Clapp sometime tomorrow to discuss how long you will be out of basketball. It shouldn't be too long but I'm thinking close to a month." Carlisle said as he looked over my charts.

"A month?!" That seemed like al long time to me.

"Yes, it will take about three and a half weeks to heal with your brace on, and then we'll see how everything looks to determine if you can play again or not."

I was a little disappointed, but there wasn't anything I could do.

"You will need to stay home from school Monday and Tuesday, just as a precaution. But I didn't think you would have a problem with that." He winked at me. "I'll be seeing you at your follow up appointment in two weeks."

We said our goodbyes and walked out to the parking lot.

Edward, Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, and Emmett were all waiting by the Jeep and Volvo.

Renee leaned in and whispered, "We'll see you at home, your friends came to visit but then they released you. And I told Edward he could drive you home." She smiled and followed my dad to the car while I started the long trip it would take to hobble over towards everyone.

It didn't take them long to realize it was hard for me to walk so Emmett bounded over and scooped me up.

"Looked like you needed some help there Bells." Emmett grinned.

"Just a little…" I teased.

We reached the others and Emmett set me down.

"So I heard you put these two in their place." Jasper snickered nodding his head at Edward and Alice and held up his hand for a high five.

I smiled remembering how they got all mad that I was apparently trying to escape. I looked over at Edward who had a sheepish smile and Alice who was giggling.

"Yeah, sorry Bella. I just heard Edward talking about you removing all those tubes they had strapped to you and assumed…" she trailed off giggling again.

I was afraid Edward was mad or something because he just forced a chuckle.

Rosalie asked me what was would happen to basketball so I told them what Carlisle told me and then about how I got two days off school.

"Oh! Bella that reminds me! Did you hear about Tanya?" Alice sang.

I shook my head and then Alice proceeded to relay all the punishments Tanya got. I laughed so hard my side starting hurting when I heard she had to be a janitor's assistant at her new school.

I don't know how long we stood there talking, but at some point it got pretty cold and Edward suggested he better get me home.

He carefully helped me in the Volvo and then got into the driver's side.

The car ride was so silent I felt like my breathing was too loud.

I couldn't take it anymore.

"Edward? What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Liar.

"You're a liar."

He gave me a surprised look that I accused him of lying to me. "No I'm not!"

"Then why are you so grumpy?"

He sighed and moved a hand through his hair. "I didn't know the nurse said you could go home…"

"You're mad about that?!" I couldn't believe it. I thought the incident was kind of funny actually.

"Not mad. I just hate when I do something wrong. I've already screwed up things with you…"

I sat there with my mouth agape.

"Edward, you haven't screwed up anything and definitely didn't do anything wrong."

"But you made me get out…" he looked puzzled.

"Because I had to change and plus you and Alice were practically yelling at me…" I laughed to try and lighten the mood.

"So you weren't mad at me for 'freaking out' on you?"

"No. I was a little annoyed that you two wouldn't let me get a word in to explain why I was out of bed but that was it."

"Oh." Was his brilliant reply.

We had reached my house and he walked over to my door to help me out.

"Sorry Bella, about everything…I'm just weird right now…I don't know why…" He was having trouble with his words. Edward never had trouble talking to me…I could tell something was wrong but I decided to leave him alone about it.

"Don't apologize Edward." I stroked his cheek and then gave him a quick kiss before me made it to my door.

He bore into my eyes with an unfamiliar emotion. It was intense.

I felt like then I should have told him about my dream, about how I loved him, but my father has great timing.

"Hey! I thought I heard voices." Charlie laughed.

"Yeah…it was us." I replied through clenched teeth. He had to ruin the moment!

Edward snapped his gaze up to Charlie and nodded politely.

"Uhh…I guess I'll see you tomorrow? Do you want me to get your work from school?"

I smiled; Edward would find an excuse to see me after school. "Yes please."

I cleared my throat, signaling my dad to go away so I could say goodbye to Edward.

As soon as Charlie reluctantly retreated back to the living room, the only room in the house you could still see the front door, I gave Edward a sweet kiss and walked inside.

"See you tomorrow Bella." He smiled my favorite crooked grin.

"Don't forget to drop off my homework after school." I said rather loudly as I knew my dad was still listening.

Edward chuckled and gave me a quick peck on the lips before getting in his car and driving away.

I love you Edward…I just wish I could tell you…

I made a mental note to tell him the next chance I got.

:-:-:

You'd think getting to stay home from school would be fun.

Not really.

I was bored to tears. I missed seeing my friends and Edward.

It didn't help that it took too much work to walk around with my crutches so I was a prisoner to my bed or the couch.

The first day Edward came and saw me before going to school. He only stayed for ten minutes though. The rest of the 7 hours and 50 minutes I watched some TV, painted my nails, read some magazines, and planned how I would tell Edward I loved him.

At 3:00 P.M. Alice and Rosalie stopped by to hang out and planned what we would do before the boys' game on Wednesday.

At 5:15 P.M. Edward came by after practice to 'drop off my homework'. Renee saw how much I didn't want him to leave and she invited him to stay for supper. We actually ended up working on some of my homework but I wouldn't let him help me finish it all because I desperately needed something to keep me busy tomorrow.

He had to leave around eight so I walked him to the door. More like Edward carried me over to the door because I didn't feel like walking.

"Thanks for coming over." I smiled shyly.

"Please Bella, what else was I going to do? Hmm?" He buried his face in my hair.

I giggled as his breath tickled my ear. "I don't know? Maybe you have another girlfriend…" I teased.

"Yup. Exactly." He played along. "She's actually waiting on me…so…I kind of have to get going."

I playfully slapped him in the arm and then pushed him away.

"Fine. I see how it is."

He laughed again and waved. "Alright. Bye."

What makes him think he can leave without a goodbye kiss?!

"Edward Anthony! Get your butt back over here now and give me a kiss!" I stomped my good leg.

"Geez, so demanding." Edward sauntered back over and wrapped his arms around my waist. He looked into my eyes again as the playful glint in his disappeared and that foreign emotion replaced it.

It was quiet for what felt like hours.

This is it Bella. This is your chance! Do it now!

After my mini pep talk I was just about to open my mouth…when his phone rang.

I actually heard him growl. He freaking growled! He must not have wanted to break our embrace.

He sighed and pulled his phone from its pocket.

"Emmett." He growled again.

He must have hit 'ignore call' because he shoved back in his pocket when the ringing shut off.

"Now…" he gazed back into my eyes and leaned in closer.

Our lips connected and he kissed me sweetly. I looked back at him when we pulled apart, I sucked in some air and was attempting to tell him I loved him again when I was interrupted again, but by Edward this time.

"Alright Bella, I need to tell you something very important and it doesn't matter if you don't feel the same because that's okay with me. I just need you to know."

"Okay…" I replied warily.

"I…I-I..." Spit it out already!

He took one deep breath and I saw worry, nervousness, happiness, and that one emotion I couldn't determine flash across his face.

"I…love you…" he closed his eyes after he told me.

I was freaking joyous! It was one of those moments when you feel like singing to the world on the top of a hill like on "The Sound of Music."

He still hadn't opened his eyes so I laced a hand in his hair and leaned my forehead against his.

"I love you too Edward." He still didn't open his eyes. I took it as an opportunity, so I placed my lips gently on his and couldn't help but smile when he kissed me back.

I pulled away slowly still having to look at Edward's eyelids.

"Edward…" I whispered softly.

"Hmm…" he hummed.

"Open your eyes." I giggled.

He slowly opened them and I realized what that emotion I didn't recognize was.

It was love.

He loved me.

Edward Cullen loves me!

I realized he had said it just five seconds ago but seeing it in his eyes confirmed his feelings for me.

"Hey." He smiled crookedly.

"Hi." I replied blushing.

"So you love me? Are you sure?"

He's so adorable…

"Yes." My cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling.

"Really?" My cheeks screamed in protest as I smiled even wider.

"Really Really."

He took me in his arms again and lifted me up.

Then Edward did something really unexpected.

He ran into the house again calling for Renee.

"In the kitchen!" she hollered back.

"Renee!" he said breathlessly, "Guess what?!"

"What dear?" she asked curiously, seeing Edward's appearance and me cradled in his arms.

No..no no no. He is not about to-

"I LOVE YOUR DAUGHTER!" He beamed.

No! He did not just do that!

I quickly covered my ears as the screaming began.

I glared daggers at Edward, but he didn't notice and set me in a chair so he could hug Renee.

"Oh my! I have to call Esme!" I groaned and hid my face in my hands.

She fumbled with the buttons as she dialed the Cullen residence.

I heard Esme answer, but instead of saying hello like a normal person, my mother squealed, "Youwillneverbelievewhatjusthappened!"

I laughed when Esme replied with a very confused, "Huh?"

She tried to tell her again but Esme still couldn't understand. I don't blame her. Renee was squealing so high-pitched that dogs were barking and talking very very fast.

My mom finally gave up and huffed as she handed the phone to me.

"What?" I mouthed to Renee.

"Tell her!" she laughed.

"Its only fair, I told your mother." Edward interjected.

I didn't ask you to…I scolded him in my head. I knew my mother would freak out like this…which is why the second he confessed his love for me I didn't say, "Let's go tell Renee!"

I hesitantly brought the phone to my ear, "Hi Esme, sorry about my mom. She's a little excited at the moment…"

"Well what has her so excited dear?"

"Well..uh…Edward and I…umm..well we…love eachother."

Cue more squeals.

I chucked the phone back at Renee so they could celebrate together.

Edward must have just realized how loud they actually were and covered his ears.

I tugged on his hand and led him out of the kitchen.

"This is all your fault you know…" I pointed at him.

He smirked, "I couldn't help myself Bella…I'm just so happy."

He pulled me into another kiss that left me breathless. "Then show your happiness that way, instead of turning my mother into a crazy shrieking lady." I laughed.

He gave me a devilish smile and proceeded to kiss me until we needed to come up for air.

"You know…since you told Renee, you're going to have to break the news to Charlie. I'll tell Carlisle, like you said its only fair." I waited to see his reaction.

All the color left his face.

"Edward…Edward! I'm just kidding! Renee will probably call him right after she gets off the phone with your mom."

"Bella don't ever do that again!" He scolded.

I just laughed and kissed him on the cheek.

"You should probably get home, if I have to endure my mother's questioning you do too."

"Are you sure you want me to go?" He planted light kisses along my jaw line.

"Well…no, but Charlie will be home soon and I'm guessing you don't want to be here when Renee tells him our news."

He sighed and walked with me to the front door again.

"I'll be over tomorrow morning before school." He kissed me forehead and turned to walk to his car.

Right before climbing in the driver's side he called my name, "Bella!"

"Yeah?"

His smile grew, "I love you."

"I love you too." He reluctantly got in and shut the door. Before driving off I blew him a kiss, which he dramatically caught and sent one back.

I watched him disappear down the street and then closed the front door.

I slid to the ground and sighed, still smiling.

I pulled out my phone and called the two girls who I knew wanted to hear about this.

"My house in ten minutes. You better be here and bring ice cream."

They both agreed excitedly and were over in no less than five minutes.

Once we were all situated in my bedroom with our bowls of ice cream, I took a deep breath and smiled.

At the same time Alice and I started, "He told me he loved me!"

Rosalie darted her eyes between the two of us and then started laughing.

**A/N AHHH!! :)**

**Don't you love me? I bet you feel pretty bad now for hating on me when I made Bella think Edward cheated on her huh? :P jk**

**Alright! Favorite Part: Its a tie! the whole "i have another gf" teasing between ExB and when Edward runs to Renee (while carrying bella) and is like "I LOVE YOUR DAUGHTER!" :)**

**Least: When Edward is all weird about the nurse/bella out of her bed incident in the parking lot and car. I know it doens't make much sense now, thats because its in BPOV because she doesn;t get it either, but it will be explained in the next EPOV :)**

**Please Review :) And maybe if you leave me your number i'll have edward text you :P lmao**

**LOVE YOU!!**

**lleighh;;**


	21. Whaaat!

**A/N So i think that i mightnot change the title of this story. idk im still undecided, but if i do change it, it will be "Really Really." I'll have a new poll up on which one you like better soon =]**

**And personally i would have to say this is my least favorite chapter out of all of them...idk why but it just doesn't seem as exciting as all the rest...what do you think?**

**Go!!**

BPOV

"Oh...mygosh! Your…faces!!" Rosalie could hardly breath she was laughing so hard.

Apparently when Alice and I, at the same time, started to tell our big new, we made 'WTF?!' faces at each other.

And apparently it was funny…

After Rose finally calmed down, Alice proceeded to tell us how Jasper professed his love.

"It was after basketball practice and he came to my house to pick me up. When I asked him where we were going, he just smiled. Then the whole car ride was silent, except for my occasional question of where he was taking me. I just got that stupid, cute smirk every time!"

I was quietly snickering at a very worked up Alice.

"He pulled up in front of the school, which I thought was weird. Once we got out he blindfolded me. I was pulled over to a different spot and he told me to keep my eyes closed while he removed the blindfold. I was too excited so I cheated a little and peeked without permission…" she giggled.

"On the grass, in front of the school where we had that carnival earlier in the semester was a blanket with a single rose and a folded up note."

Rosalie and I reflexively 'aww'd.'

"He spun me around to look at him and he was about to say something, but I couldn't help myself and blurted out "I love you, Jasper." He was practically gaping at me for five minutes. I asked him what was wrong and that smirk reappeared as he said, "You took the words right out of my mouth."

"Then he handed me the note, which I will not tell you about because it was very sweet and personal. But it explained that the reason he brought me to the school was because that was the moment he first knew he would be with me forever, at the carnival."

Alice got a dreamy look in her eyes and sighed as she fell back onto the bed.

She shot back up less than three seconds later and looked at me, "Your turn!!" she squealed.

I told them everything starting from Edward's 'other girlfriend,' all the way to when he blew me a kiss before driving away.

We were silent in our own thoughts until Rosalie spoke.

"How did we get so luck?"

No one knew the answer.

EPOV

I pulled my Volvo in the garage and saw my very enthusiastic mother waiting for me.

"Oh Edward! I'm so happy for you and Bella!" she gave me a tight squeeze and then flitted inside.

I followed her in and was met by a very amused Carlisle, Emmett, and Jasper.

"So, you went screaming to Renee about your great news?" Emmett smirked.

"At least it wasn't the entire school on their way to class!" I shot back.

Esme's eyes went wide, "Whaaaat?!"

Emmett glared at me before taking great interest in his shoes. "Erm…I told Rosalie I loved her…afewdaysago…" he mumbled.

"And you didn't tell me!?!"

"Jasper didn't tell you either!" he defended, throwing Jasper under the bus with him.

"Jasper Cullen!! You're in love too?!" she gasped.

"Yeahh…but I just told her a couple hours ago, not days!" he turned towards Emmett.

Carlisle looked confused. "So tell me something…all three of you told your girlfriends you love them this past week?"

We all silently nodded.

He breathed out a laugh, got out his phone, and dialed someone's number as he walked away.

"Well! We certainly need to have a talk about why you boys do not trust your mother enough to clue her in to the whole 'I love a girl' thing. But first I want to hear about you told them…starting with Emmett!

He groaned and began.

:-:-:

I arrived at Bella's house ten minutes earlier than I did yesterday.

She must have been watching for me because before I even got to the door she was waiting in the threshold for me.

"Hey you." I smiled and kissed her cheek.

"Hey." She grabbed my hand and led me inside.

We walked into the kitchen and found Renee pouring herself a cup of coffee.

"Good morning Renee." I nodded politely.

"Good morning Edward!" she sang, Renee must be a morning person…"I have to get to my meeting I'm already two minutes late for, so make sure Bella is all taken care of before you head off to school." She winked and said her goodbyes.

After I heard the door click shut I turned to Bella lifting my eyebrows, "She trusts us alone?" I teased.

Bella smirked and placed a lingering kiss on my lips, "I guess so…"

Before I left I made sure Bella had everything she needed for a while and wouldn't have to leave her spot on the couch.

"Do you really have to go?" she pouted.

"As much as I hate to, I think our parents wouldn't like that very much, us being alone in your house all day…and by parents I mean Charlie…"

"Pleeeaase Edward. I get so bored." She jutted out her bottom lip and it took all I had to stay strong.

"I'm sorry, love. I'll text you whenever I get the chance." I kissed her forehead.

"Fine…" she huffed, "But I get one good kiss to last me the whole day."

I smiled and planted a pretty amazing kiss on her lips if I do say so myself.

Our foreheads were pressed together and I had to keep reminding myself why I couldn't just skip school today.

"Edward?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, Bella." I reluctantly detached from her and walked out the door.

I had the biggest smile plastered on my face the whole way to school.

:-:-:

School – Bella = Horrible!

I would walk down the halls and feel 'naked' on the left side of my body, because that's always where Bella walked. My hand felt cold from the absence of her touch and any girl with long brown hair made my heart go crazy.

As I walked down the halls I laughed at myself remembering last night, and the night she came home from the hospital.

I was a wreck.

Ever since my realization of loving Bella my hands got clammy every time I was near her. I tried to find the right moment to tell her I loved her but always ended up chickening out...again and again.

After she made me get out of her room at the hospital when I thought she was trying to escape I freaked out a little.

I have no idea why either.

For some reason I thought Bella was furious with me for wrongly accusing her. Then I kept second-guessing myself on whether or not to still tell her how I felt.

I told you, I was a mess.

Then when Bella told me she was never mad to begin with it felt like 10-ton boulders were lifted off my shoulders.

I knew right then that I had to tell her soon.

Very soon.

When we were saying goodbye on her doorstep, it just felt right. We had just been joking around and I had kissed her, it felt so us. So I convinced myself to tell her right there, but of course, Emmett had to ruin the moment.

Story of my life…

I didn't let it stop me though. It didn't seem fair to either one of us to keep these feelings to myself, so I sucked it up and just told her.

I smiled again, luckily for me she loved me back.

Now I was left without her for a full eight hours, plus two more hours of basketball practice on top of that.

This is my personal hell.

:-:-:

Wednesday, the day Bella finally comes back to school.

I hopped in my car and sped over to the Swan's to pick her up.

I knocked on the door and was greeted by a stern-looking Charlie.

"Hello Sir." I nodded.

"Edward. Please come in." he stepped away from the door.

He escorted me to the living room and turned to face me.

"Now, I understand that you love my Isabella."

I gulped.

"Yes sir. I do." I tried not to sound as nervous as I felt.

"I was surprised when I got a call from Carlisle telling me the news. Who told him?"

Carlisle? My dad freaking called my girlfriend's dad to gossip!?

"My mother did."

He grunted.

"Well, I am happy for you both, but mark my words son, if you ever hurt her you will have to answer to me. Understand?" He was a tad scarier with his police uniform on, and his gun situated right by his hand…

"Yes Mr. Swan. I would expect nothing less."

"Alright then!" he patted me on the back, "And call me Charlie, 'sir' and 'Mr. Swan' make me feel like an old man." He laughed, creating wrinkles around his eyes.

Bella limped down the stairs at this moment and froze at the sight before her.

"I'll see you later Mr., Er…Charlie."

"Learn something at school!" he called after us as we retreated to the Volvo.

"What did he say to you?" Bella asked cautiously.

"Nothing he wasn't supposed to." I reassured her.

"Edward…. tell me."

"It's not important Bella. He just told me I better take care of you, and I agreed." Basically…no reason to bring up the scary factor…

"Oh. Okay then." She seemed relieved and relaxed into the seat.

We arrived at school and Bella was immediately bombarded with hugs from her friends and all of her basketball teammates.

The whole day was filled with people welcoming Bella back and few of the boys seemed a little too welcoming to me…Emmett told me I was just possessive.

Besides that everything felt perfect.

I had Bella at my side.

Her hand clasped in mine.

School + Bella = Right

BPOV

I knocked on Coach Clapp's office door and let myself in. She was watching a video of our last game and taking notes, probably about what we needed to work on during practice.

"Coach?"

"Bella, please have a seat. I'm almost done with this." She gestured towards the TV.

She wrote down one more thing and then paused the tape before facing me.

"I assume this is about your participation during the remainder of the season?"

I nodded.

"Well from what Dr. Cullen has told me, you will be out for about a month and a half."

"What? He only told me a month."

"Well yes, it's a month until you get your brace off, but you will still have to go easy on your leg for a little while."

"So when will I actually be able to play again?" If my calculations were correct, I wouldn't get to play a good portion of our games.

"I would estimate around the time of our first tournament. Until then I want you to have practices with the school's physical therapist. Her office is right across from the entrance to the gym, and she will be expecting you after school."

"Alright. But I was wondering if I would be able to come and watch some regular practices, just so I have the plays down and things like that."

"That will be fine, but I want you to worry about recovering right now Miss Swan."

"Yes ma'am." You never argued with Coach.

:-:-:

After school Edward walked me to the therapist's office.

"I'll see you after practice." He kissed my forehead.

"Okay, I'll wait for you in front of the gym if I get out earlier than you."

He started to walk away but then turned around suddenly as if he just realized he forgot something.

"I love you Bella."

"I love you too Edward." I blew him a kiss before taking a deep breath and opening the door.

Behind the desk sat a very muscular man, with tan skin and jet-black hair.

He looked fairly young, I'd say mid to late twenties.

I walked in timidly, as he still hadn't looked up from whatever he was working on, and sat down in one of the blue chairs situated in front of his desk.

I cleared my throat to get his attention, "Hi, I'm Bella Swan. Coach Clapp told me I was supposed to meet with you."

He looked up and smiled, "Ah yes. The basketball super star."

I blushed, "I wouldn't go that far…"

"Well its all the school has been buzzing about since your last minute shot at the Port Angeles game."

I sighed, "Yeah it was the only game I got to play before this." I gestured to my lump of a leg.

"I see that. I was looking at your x-rays here, and was wondering. How did you manage to fracture your leg? I haven't gotten the story behind your injuries, if you don't mind me asking…" he stated cautiously.

"No that's fine, I'm actually surprised you haven't heard the school 'buzzing' about this. I was at the last boys' basketball game and fell down the flight of stairs from the bleachers…" I trailed off.

"And how did you fall?"

"Well…" I hesitated, "I didn't so much fall…as I was being pushed…"

"You got pushed?!"

"Yeah, long story short, this girl didn't like me because she likes my boyfriend."

"Is that why Tanya Denali got suspended?" He started to put the pieces together.

"Pretty much…it honestly shocks me that you didn't hear all this. My friends made it seem like it was all anyone talked about."

"I thought that they were just silly rumors! I had no idea she actually pushed you. I'm so glad to see you didn't get terribly harmed."

"Thank you, Mr.-" I realized I didn't even know his name.

"Uley. Mr. Uley, but you can call me Sam. I don't like the whole formality thing. It reminds me of my father." He joked.

"So…what will 'practice' be like Coach Sam?" I teased.

"I'm going to show you a series of exercises you can do every night, just to make you more comfortable with walking around since you have on that brace for a month."

Sam proceeded to show me the exercises he was talking about. They were a little hard, but definitely helped.

He also showed me easier ways to move around with my crutches.

By the time we were finished it was about five minutes before Edward's practice got let out.

I thanked Sam for helping me and told him I would see him next practice. Coach Clapp had decided I go every other day switching from physical therapy, to the regular team practices.

I hobbled over to where the boys exited the gym right as practice ended.

Edward was one of the first ones out.

He took my bags and told me to wait on the sidewalk while he brought the car up.

After an argument about how necessary it was for him to do this I watched him smugly walk towards the Volvo.

How does he always win?

Not two seconds after Edward left someone came up behind me.

"Isabella Swan?"

I turned around and saw Jonathan…. something exit the gym.

"Bella." I stated simply.

"Huh?"

"Its not Isabella, its just Bella."

"Oh, my mistake." He smiled timidly.

"Don't worry about it." I assured him.

"I just wanted to say, you know, welcome back and glad your walking around. That was a pretty nasty fall you took. I saw Tanya push you, but I was on the other end of the gym, so I didn't make it in time to catch you, otherwise I would have." He said apologetically.

"No, that's ok. I didn't get many injuries, and they weren't even that bad." I smiled back.

"Well, that's good." His mood seemed to brighten a little.

Then Jonathan came and gave me an awkward hug. It was awkward partly because the crutches got in the way, and partly because I didn't even know this guy.

Edward chose to pull up at that moment and I heard him slamming the car door as Jonathan released me from the hug.

"I'll see you later Jonathan." I waved.

"Oh! Let me help you." He ran forward and tried to assist me, but only managed to make things worse.

"I can take it from here." Edward cut him off.

"Alright. Well I'll see you around Bella." Jonathan waved as he walked towards his own car.

Edward helped me in, and then went around to his side of the car.

We sped away and I could tell he wasn't happy.

"Edward, what's wrong?" I had a pretty good idea, but wanted to make sure.

"I don't like that guy." He said through clenched teeth.

"Yeah, he's annoying, but Jonathan doesn't mean any harm…" I tried to calm him down a little.

Didn't work.

"Just try to stay away from him. For me. I don't like how he was looking at you and…I don't know! He just doesn't give me a good feeling." Edward fumed.

"Okay. I'll stay away from him. I didn't know he bothered you that much…" I rubbed his arm up and down still trying to get him to loosen up a bit.

His rigid body relaxed and he sighed, "I didn't mean to get all mad like that…I'm sorry Bella. I just got insanely jealous when he hugged you and I haven't heard the greatest things about Jonathan…" he trailed off.

"Its okay." I kissed him on the cheek to let him know I wasn't mad.

It was quiet after that until I started giggling.

"What?" Edward smiled, wanting to be let in on the joke.

"You know, you're pretty cute when you're jealous." I smirked.

"Really?"

"Really Really." I stated matter-of-factly.

**A/N Aww i love jealous Edward =]**

**Favorite: When Edward is thinking about when he told Bella he loved her and he's like, '****When we were saying goodbye on her doorstep, it just felt right. We had just been joking around and I had kissed her, it felt so us. So I convinced myself to tell her right there, but of course, Emmett had to ruin the moment. ****Story of my life…' AND i love that Esme gets as excited, or maybe even more excited than Renee when she found out all her sons are in love =]**

**Least Favorite: When Jonathan tried to help Bella in the car but only made things worse. I don't like Jonathan lol**

**So! Favorite part? Least favorite?**

**Okay, lemme know about if you like the new title that i talked about in the above AN and i'll have the poll up in the next hour =]**

**LOVE YOU!!**

**lleighh;;**


	22. Pity Party

**A/N: Hey everyone! I want to apologize for disappearing from fanfiction for a little while…but if you followed me on twitter *wink wink* you would have gotten a few updates on what's been going on lol. Basically I've just been uber busy and had no time at all to get this chapter up…but enough of apologizing, there's a new chapter to read! :)**

****AN will continue at the bottom with exciting news!!****

**See you below!!**

BPOV

_Beep Beep!…Beep Beep!…Beep-_ "Ugh!!"

I slammed my hand down on top of my alarm clock and lay there as it plummeted to the floor.

_Great...now I have to get a new alarm._

I fought my heavy lids and sat up straight in bed, only to be surprised by a very amused Edward.

"How the hell did you get in here!?" I shrieked.

"Good morning to you too Bells." He smirked back.

I took a few breaths to slow down my heart rate before I spoke again, "You're right, I'm sorry. What a beautiful morning _Edward_." I grumbled.

"Not a morning person I see…" he chuckled and came to sit at the foot of my bed.

"Not usually." I admitted before leaning over and kissing him on the cheek. "But seriously, how did you get in here?"

"Through the door." He stated completely serious as he pointed towards the entrance to my room. Like I had no idea where my door was!

I rolled my eyes and gave him a not-in-the-mood glare.

"Alright, Renee had an early morning committee meeting and had a flat tire. Charlie already left, so she called Esme and asked if one of us _men _could help her replace it. So here I am! She told me I could come wake you up before she left." He smiled proudly.

"Well then why did you let the alarm clock beat you to it?!" I could have woken up to Edward's voice_…maybe then I wouldn't be so grumpy._

His face flushed and he smiled sheepishly, "You just looked so peaceful…and I kind of forgot what I came up here for when I saw you…"

I smiled and pulled him in for a soft kiss.

"…_And_ I may have enjoyed the fact that you were talking about me in your sleep too…" That earned him a slap on the shoulder.

"I don't even want to know what I said. Now leave so I can get ready for school." I tried to push him towards the door, but he wouldn't budge.

"Sure you don't need any help?" He teased.

"I'm sure I can manage." I smiled tightly back before he shut the door behind him.

"I'll be in the living room if you change your mind!!" He hollered from the other side. I waited until I heard his footsteps fade before starting my morning routine.

:-:-:

I basically tumbled downstairs after getting ready, if Edward hadn't have been there I probably would have broken the other leg and an arm.

We arrived at school thirty minutes early, I hadn't even realized I got ready so fast. Edward helped me over to our picnic table and we waited for our other friends to arrive.

At the same time Emmett and Jazz arrived, so did Jonathan and he was headed towards me.

_This should be lovely…_

I watched Edward tense up when Jonathan finally made it over to us and cleared his throat. I reached over and unclenched Edward's fist and intertwined our fingers.

"Hey Bella, Edward." Jon nodded.

Edward just stared at him, but I didn't want to be rude, "Hi Jonathan."

"How's your leg doing?" he took the seat across from me.

"Great, Edward's been taking good care of me." I smiled and gave his hand a squeeze.

"Oh. That's good." He replied shortly.

"Hey J! To what do we owe this pleasure?" Emmett greeted when he sat down.

"Just checking up on Bella. I still feel guilty about not reaching the bleachers fast enough." He said softly.

Emmett just nodded and shot Jasper a look.

"I told you not to worry about it. Look, I'm still alive, no harm done." He had said the same thing yesterday and even though this was only the second time, it was getting annoying when Jon blamed himself.

Alice and Rose came over and sat down too, after giving me questioning looks as they pointed to Jonathan.

"Well, I guess I'll see you later. Bye Bella." He waved to just me and stalked off.

"What was _that_ all about?" Rose sneered as she jutted her thumb in Jonathan's direction.

"Apparently it was Jonathan's job to save Bella." Edward seethed.

"Yeah what was up with that pity party he threw for himself? 'If only I got there fast enough…'" Emmett mimicked Jonathan and started pouting.

"I think you need to watch out for him Bella, I've heard him in the locker room bragging about all the girls he's been with. In my opinion, he's a complete douche bag." Jasper said.

"Plus, he isn't the brightest star in the sky…" I looked at Alice, confused, " He was ineligible all football season because he had an F in three classes!"

Emmett groaned, "So that makes him a _stupid_ douche bag. The worst kind…" he shook his head disapprovingly.

I laughed at his joke and turned to see Edward. He was just sitting there staring off into space. Emotionless.

I nudged his arm, "Edward…?"

Nothing.

I nudged a little harder and squeezed the hand I was still holding. "Edward."

Nope. _This calls for drastic measures…_

I leaned in and whispered in his ear, "Edward, what's wrong?" then proceeded to bite it softly and kiss his cheek.

He pulled from his blank stare and looked at me. His eyes were watery, but no tears had spilled over…yet.

"Edward??" I wasn't expecting him to be sad. I got up from the table and gave Alice a look so she knew what was going on.

I led Edward over to the far end of the parking lot where most students went to make out during lunch so we could talk privately.

I looked up into Edward's eyes and could tell he was doing all he could to not shed one tear. Gently, I stroked his cheek so he knew it was okay to talk to me.

One tear escaped and he let out a shaky breath.

"I should have been there."

"What are you talking about Edward?"

"I should have been there to catch you when you got pushed, or taken care of Tanya so she wouldn't have hurt you in the first place, or…I don't know, I just should have done _something!_"

I instantly cursed Jonathan for putting those thoughts in his head.

"Hey…look at me." I spoke softly.

He gazed into my eyes and brought his hand up to hold mine that rested on his cheek.

"There is nothing _anyone_ could have done to prevent this. And if anyone could have, it would be me. _I _talked to her on the steps. _I _made her mad and then _I _tried to budge around her. Don't blame yourself Edward." I was crying now too.

"I _could_ have been there though. But instead I stood there and listened to Jessica go on about that stupid middle school dance. If I had just blown her off and went to find you like I was originally doing this wouldn't have happened to you. You didn't deserve this Bella!" The tears were flowing freely now and it broke me up inside that he had been feeling this way.

I placed a hand on either side of his face and wiped away the tears, "Listen to me Edward. I don't regret anything that has happened. You know why? Because when I was unconscious after the accident, that's when I realized I loved you. That's when I realized just how lucky I was to have you in my life. So I don't want you looking at this as a bad thing, because its not. Tanya pushing me down those steps brought us closer than we've ever been, and as a bonus she got shipped off to a finishing school." I smiled a little.

Edward's eyes bore into mine, his tears had stopped falling and his crooked smile appeared, "I love you so much, Bella."

"I love you too. So much."

His lips fused with mine and I found it was funny that we were making out in the actual 'make-out hot spot.'

I rested my forehead against his and left one more lingering kiss before heading back to our friends.

Emmett looked like he had a hanger in his mouth, he was smiling so widely when we reappeared.

"So guys…how's it going?" Emmett wiggled his eyebrows.

"Fantastic." Edward replied smiling.

Jasper, Alice, and Rosalie all exchanged amused glances before bursting with laughter.

The bell finally rang and we all went out separate ways as couples.

:-:-:

Since there was a boy's basketball game tonight, Alice invited Angela, Rose, and me to her house to hang out before it started.

We mainly gossiped about the new couples that formed over the weekend and what people had heard about Tanya's new life at her new school.

Then they asked me what had happened between Edward and I this morning. Apparently my friends felt the need to give us privacy when we were talking about something serious, but when Emmett saw Edward go in for the kiss 'they just couldn't miss a good make-up scene.'

Lame excuse.

About an hour before the game Alice suggested we get all pumped up, so we decked out in Forks High gear and Angela even decorated my leg brace with basketball stickers and ribbons. Rosalie saw and decided my crutches needed to match, so she decorated them too.

We arrived at the game a few minutes early so we could get good seats. We were on the first row right beside where the team sat. Not too long after we got there the pep band filed onto the stage and started the school song.

The crowd went wild when the team burst through the doors and started with their warm ups.

I caught sight of Edward and he winked at me before tossing his three pointers, which he made flawlessly.

After the team introductions they came and sat down on their bench. I noticed they were short one player, but it didn't take long to see Jonathan sitting behind them in his regular clothes.

_Ineligible again? Geez kid, maybe you should study a little more…_

The game started off well, with us ahead by ten points. Jasper had just made two more points and the crowd was really into the game.

Then out of nowhere Mike popped into my line of vision.

"Hey babe!" he waved enthusiastically.

"Hello Mike." I did not feel like having this conversation right now.

"Man! What'd you do to your leg!? That looks like it hurt." He seemed shocked.

"It did." I said quickly.

Couldn't he see I was trying to watch the game?

"Well anyways…I came over here to apologize."

"For what?" I asked puzzled.

"Well I kind of…got a girlfriend... I mean I took away the Mike-lovin'! I'm so sorry Bella…"

I had to bite down on my tongue so I didn't explode into hysterics. He was seriously apologizing to me?

"It's okay Mike…I-I understand." I coughed out the words to cover up my laugh.

He must have thought I was fighting tears because he put a comforting arm around my shoulder. "I know its hard baby, but you need to move on like me. Jess, come over here! You should meet my girlfriend, she's amazing."

The girl that I saw gushing over Edward back at the basketball supper walked over.

"Hi. I'm Jessica Stanley." She held out her hand, but then pulled away when she realized who I was. "_Ohmygosh!_ You're Edward's girlfriend! We had a thing, but I decided he was too old for me…besides Mikey here has my heart now." She batted her eyelashes at him.

Were these kids for real?

I was about to tell them how nice it was talking but, I wanted to watch the game when Jonathan appeared.

"What are you doing Michael? Bugging Bella? Why don't you and your little friend go back to your seats." He shooed away a grumbling Mike and Jessica.

"Brothers…" Jonathan sighed.

"Mike is your brother?" _Newton! How did I not know that?_

"Unfortunatly." He chuckled.

He stood there awkwardly for a few moments before squeezing in between Angela and I.

"Do you mind? It isn't fun sitting by myself. All my friends are playing right now…"

"Uhh…sure." _Seeing as how you already made yourself comfortable…_"Why aren't you out there?"

"Math and English grade. I mean come on! If I'm going to be a basketball coach I don't need to know the circumference of a circle or what the heck Romeo and Juliet are talking about in a play written by a dead guy. Am I right?"

I stole a glance at Alice who was giggling uncontrollably.

"Yeah…exactly." I snorted. He didn't seem to notice.

I finally got to catch up to what was going on in the game. I just had to tune out Jonathan's voice that was constantly talking about _something._

EPOV

The game was going well, we were always ahead at least by five points.

I had predicted this to be an easy victory from what I've heard the other guys on the team talking about O. Trent high school, but they must have worked their butts off this season because they were keeping up with us.

_Or_ our team was sucking it up. Coach hasn't yelled at us except during the quarter break, so I think its safe to say we're doing pretty good tonight.

It was almost half time and I was losing energy. Since _Mr. Stupid douche bag_ was failing again we had to pick up the slack since his replacement was not the best player in the world.

I looked out into the crowd as Emmett made his free throws to see Bella. I knew I could make until half time if I saw her watching. I'm not gonna lie, I show off a little more now that I have a girlfriend to impress.

I found her face hidden behind Mike's big head and it looked like she was laughing? Then Jessica joined them and freaked out over something after getting introduced to Bella.

_I don't even want to know…_

Emmett made both his shots, so I was off running again, chasing that darn orange ball _again._

The second time I saw Bella was when Coach actually gave me a break for the first time the whole game. I was walking back to the bench after Tyler took my place and saw Jonathan sitting there talking her ear off.

Even though I could tell she had zoned him out, it still bugged me that he thought he could make a move on my girl. Seriously, you don't do that when you know the girl has a boyfriend. Especially when the boyfriend could kick your ass.

I'm pretty sure I could anyways…

It was finally half time and the score was 33-27. We ran back to the locker room so coach could give his 'give it all you got' speech.

After he finished we had a few minutes before we had to get back out on the court so I went to refill my water bottle.

The fountain was right beside the player's entrance to the gym and I could see Bella laughing about something Rosalie was saying. She noticed me looking at her and blushed before walking over to me.

"Hey." She smiled and gave me a really quick peck on the lips.

I gave her a give-me-a-real-kiss look and she scrunched up her face.

"You're all sweaty, and it's a little gross…no offence." She smiled back sweetly.

"None taken, but that doesn't mean I'll accept that as an excuse…" I snatched her up in my _sweaty_ arms.

"Ewwww!! Gross Edward!!" I set her back down when she started kicking my shins and she had the most adorable, grossed out expression on her face.

"See, now you're sweaty too." I puckered up, closed my eyes, and leaned in for a kiss.

Instead of Bella's soft lips, the palm of her hand shoved my face away. "Nice try Cullen, but that kind of behavior will get you on the 'no kisses at all' list." She smirked.

"But…" she covered my mouth again.

"I don't want to hear it Edward. You need to be responsible for your actions. Now I'm going to go back to my seat. Have a good second half." Her face scrunched up again as she wiped the sweaty hand that was covering my mouth onto the leg of her jeans.

I smiled when I saw 'CULLEN' written across the back of my jersey she wore when she turned around and walked back into the gym.

"You're a lucky guy Edward." I spun around and saw Jonathan.

_He did not just say that._

"I know." I smiled tightly and tried to walk away.

"Just be careful because you never know when your luck might run out.." he trailed off.

"What are you talking about?" _If he means what I think he does, I can't be held responsible for _these_ actions._

"Oh nothing…you just might want to make sure you and Bella are on the same page and everything in your relationship. You don't want her leaving you…say if someone better comes along." I was started to get really pissed off.

"And who might be better for Bella than me?"

"Lots of people…" he was dragging this out.

_Douche bag._

"And who is lots of people? Just come out and say it. I know you want Bella, but you better back off. She. Is._ Mine_." My fists were clenching at my sides.

"Oo. Such hostility."

_Do not punch him in the face. Not in the face. Not in the face._

"Don't worry, when Bella dumps you I'll take good care of her."

_Not in the face. Not in the face. Not in the face. _

_Right. Go for the nose._

I pulled my arm back and saw terror flash across Jonathan's face.

_Good. You should be scared, because this is going to hurt._

Before my fist could make contact with his nose someone grabbed my arm.

"Don't do it man. Just chill." Jasper was trying to calm me down.

Emmett and Ben came out too and stood by my side.

"You better not mess with my brother and his girlfriend. Bella is like a sister to me and if you mess with either of them I will have to beat you down for screwing with two members of my family." Emmett towered over him.

"And if you sit by Angela and Bella, or any of those girls, I will see to it that you get what you deserve." Ben added.

"Leave. Her. Alone." I spat before coach and the rest of our teammates exited the locker room.

Jonathan must have gotten the message because the rest of the game he sat by Mike and Jessica.

We ended up winning 55-40.

I should get mad before every game because I took out all my aggression on the court and didn't realize the game was even close to over until the buzzer buzzed ending it.

I quickly showered, inwardly laughing when I thought of Bella's disgusted face after I wiped all my sweat over her.

_She better kiss me now that I'm clean._

I saw her sitting at our picnic table outside the gym waiting for me.

"Great game. You really dominated third and fourth quarter. What happened during half time that got you guys so pumped?" she asked curiously.

I just shrugged, not wanting to tell her how I almost punched Newton, and changed the subject.

"So guess what?" I smiled.

"What?" she giggled as we started walking to the Volvo.

"No, actually guess."

"Fine…umm…" she huffed, "I give up, just tell me." She looked up at me with the most beautiful puppy dog eyes and I couldn't say no.

"I'm not sweaty anymore." I smirked.

We reached the car and she leaned against the side. "Huh. I see that. Do you want a gold star or what?" she joked.

"You know what I want." I whispered huskily in her ear as I swept a piece of hair behind her ear.

"No...I don't recall what it was…" she replied shakily, too stubborn to quit her little game.

"Remember…" I coaxed, setting my bag down so I could hold her around the waist.

"Nuh uh…remind me." She whispered as her breath fanned across my face.

I pulled her closer and as her hands weaved through my hair. We were half a centimeter apart before I couldn't take it any longer and crashed my lips onto hers. She felt so warm pressed against me and I got a little carried away and set her on the hood of the Volvo.

She squealed in surprise and I was shocked at what I had just done. No one ever touched my Volvo, and now I was making out with Bella basically on top of the thing.

We had to come up for air and my eyes bore into hers.

"Wow." She breathed.

I kissed her lips again and helped her back onto the ground.

I helped her get into the car and then went around to my side.

Before pulling out of the parking lot she turned to me with a hint of a smile.

"Guess what?" she asked.

I snickered, remembering how I had done the same to get her to kiss me.

"What?"

"No, actually guess Edward." She smirked.

"Umm…that was the best kiss of your life?...I'm right aren't I?"

"Well yes, but that's not it." She blushed when she admitted how great our kiss was. Of course, it boosted my ego and I grinned like a fool.

"Okay...I give up"

"You shouldn't have let Jasper keep you from punching Jonathan."

_Crap. She saw that?_

**A/N: So was it worth the wait? I actually really like this chapter :P**

**Before the good news you know what we gotta do!**

**Favorite:****I placed a hand on either side of his face and wiped away the tears, "Listen to me Edward. I don't regret anything that has happened. You know why? Because when I was unconscious after the accident, that's when I realized I loved you. That's when I realized just how lucky I was to have you in my life. So I don't want you looking at this as a bad thing, because its not. Tanya pushing me down those steps brought us closer than we've ever been, and as a bonus she got shipped off to a finishing school." I smiled a little.**

**And**

**The whole sweaty ordeal during half time. I thought it was really cute. :)**

**Least favorite: How Jonathan made Edward all guilty for not saving Bella and all that.**

**What about you??**

**Alright!**

**1: I have decided to write a sequel for this! :) :)**

**I already have the main points of it planned out and I'm getting pretty excited!! Lmao**

**But and fyi this will NOT take place their senior year. I feel like I wouldn't know exactly what to write about if i have them go through _another_ year of high school.**

**It will take place Bella, Edward, Alice, and Rosalie's first year of college. It will be Jasper and Emmett's second year.**

**I don't think I ever mentioned this but Jasper and Emmett are seniors while everyone else is a junior. No, they're not twins, they're just close in age.**

**2: I made a banner with all the main characters in the story!! Its on my profile page so you should all go check it out and leave me comments on it to tell me what you think! And I was wondering if someone would like to make me a banner for the actual story?? I don't have photoshop or anything fancy like that…I made that banner on paint lol, so if you would like to or you know someone who would please pm me or email at lleighhh at yahoo . com please and thankyou!!**

**Phew! That was a long note.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Please Review!!**

**LOVE YOU!!**

**lleighh;;**


	23. SNOW!

**Go!**

EPOV

"Mmmm…" I hummed as I felt a soothing hand run through my hair.

It was one of those times when you felt conscious but were still half-asleep. I wasn't quite sure if I was imagining the hand massaging my scalp or if there was actually someone in my room.

I didn't care though. It felt good.

The soft fingers trailed down the side of my face and cupped my cheek. They traced my cheekbones and nose, as if they were trying to memorize my features.

Moving slowly down my neck, the hand rested on top of my chest and drew random pictures with a single figure.

"Edward…" A gentle voice whispered. They were so close that their breath tickled my ear.

"Edward…wake up." They tried again. I didn't feel like facing the day just yet, so I rolled over to lie on my side, away from whoever was in my room.

I felt a little nudge on my back, but ignored it. A few more pokes and tugs followed but I was determined to go back to sleep.

"You leave me no choice then." A hint of amusement was in their tone.

There was a dip in the mattress and it started to shake.

"EDWARD!! IT'S TIME FOR SCHOOL!! EDWARD! EDWARD! EDWARD! GET UP SLEEPY HEAD!" rang through my ears.

_Bella._

I wasn't giving in.

She started jumping up and down on top of my bed, making my pillow fall to the ground and my head flop back down on to the bare mattress underneath.

_Can't break me that easily._

The mini earthquake stopped for a few seconds before I felt a body land on top of me.

Giggling, Bella whispered in my ear again, "Are you awake now?"

I pretended to still be sleeping, but I knew she could tell I was fully awake.

I quickly grabbed her wrist that was closest to me with my right hand and whipped my torso around to grab her other wrist as she landed on her back with a squeak.

I had her hands locked above her head within seconds.

"Edward! You're cheating!" Bella whined as she tried to free herself.

I looked into her eyes and smirked when I noticed the side of her mouth twitch, but she quickly composed herself before letting a smile breakthrough.

"How?" I questioned.

"Well first you can't just use your strength against me like that, and second this was my way of getting back at you for scaring me shitless yesterday morning, and here you are actually enjoying it." Her bottom lip jutted out and I leaned in closer as it practically begged me to kiss it back into place.

"Yes, I am enjoying this." I replied smugly and softly caught her pouty lip in between mine.

"I guess it does have it advantages…" she sighed.

It was silent for a while as Bella took in my sleeping attire, which consisted of a pair of boxer shorts.

"Don't you get cold at night?" she asked, honestly curious.

"Not at all." I snickered.

"So…" Bella looked at our current position, "..are you going to let me go anytime soon?"

"Nope." I stated matter-of-factly.

"Okay." She shrugged.

I looked at her warily, wondering why she gave in so easily, then I got my answer.

"ESMEEE!!!! EDWARD TRAPPED MEEEE!!!!" she hollered towards the doorway.

"Edward Anthony!" I started to hear her stomp up the steps. I swiftly threw on a shirt from my floor and moved from my questionable stance above Bella.

In record timing, I had resumed my earlier spot on the bed before I was rudely awakened.

"What did I tell you about being a gentleman?!" My mother scolded from the doorway.

"Whaz goinnon?" I grumbled as I pretended to rub my eyes as if I had just woken up.

"Oh _puh-leeze_!" Bella snorted. "Don't let him fool you Esme, he just had my hands in a death grip!"

Esme gave me the evil eye that she always used when she wanted me to behave, but I knew she was joking when I saw her smile as she turned to go back downstairs.

When she was out of hearing distance I scoffed at Bella, "I can't believe you told on me."

Being the mature 17 year old she is, Bella stuck her tongue out at me before scurrying out of my bedroom.

I got ready as fast as I could and waltzed down the stairs where Emmett, Jasper, and Bella were having breakfast with my mother.

"Morning." I greeted everyone as I went over to the cupboard to get a bowl and cereal.

"Morning sunshine!" Emmett grinned toothily at me.

"So what do you kids have planned for the weekend?" Esme asked.

"I don't know. I assume Alice already has an idea though." Jasper chuckled.

We all agreed and thought of the possibilities she might have in mind, but when Emmett started trying to convince Bella to go mudding again I decided it was about time to head over to school.

"You can't try it once and then just refuse to give it another chance…" Emmett grumbled as he made his way to the Jeep with Jasper.

I started walking towards the Volvo but Bella stopped me short and pulled me towards her truck.

"Bellaaa." I groaned, "I'd like to get to school on time today."

"Hey! Don't hate on the truck." She warned playfully.

I reluctantly climbed in the cab and tried not to look impatient as we went the speed limit down the road.

Bella looked over and noticed my expression, "Don't be a baby. You drive too fast anyway. Maybe it'll do you good to watch a _responsible_ driver for a change." She smirked.

-:-:-

I reluctantly separated from Bella to go to my first hour class, Writing Composition.

This was my least favorite class of the day. I had a good grade, but sentence structure just wasn't my thing.

I strolled in and waved a good morning to my teacher, Miss B. Despite this being the class I hated most, Miss B was my favorite teacher. She was hilarious and always sarcastic. She didn't do things the 'normal' way either. Our class could be working on an assignment, and in the middle of class she'd stop us and say, "Okay, I changed my mind. Pair up and write a paragraph about…how annoying siblings can be."

Then, just when we thought we were being let off easy she'd add, "And make sure you have at least one simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentence. Also have one parallel phrase and one appositive."

There would be teasing groans from the class and we would get started, then someone always had to ask, "How many words?"

Tricky Miss B would always ask a peculiar question like, "What is your favorite state?" or "Favorite letter?" then, somehow she would figure out which number that state was to join the United States of America or where the letter in the alphabet was placed and give us a certain number of words based on her calculations.

It usually ended up around 200-300 words for a paragraph. I honestly think she just fumbled around to make it look like she was actually figuring it out, but just made up the number in her head.

Miss B was awesome.

Today in class we were perfecting our appositive writing skills.

_Okay_, I thought. _I can handle this._

First hour breezed by and before I knew it, it was time for lunch. I walked with Jasper to the cafeteria and was in tears by the time we reached our table.

Jazz had met me at my locker and we followed in line with the hungry teenagers. Right before opening the door to enter the lunchroom, a few snowflakes started to fall and the students went berserk!

One of the freshmen yelled, "SNOW!!" and started running around like a maniac. A couple kids just laughed and kept on walking, but for the most part, they mimicked the kid and stuck out their tongues to catch a snowflake.

Our student body is very mature.

Obviously.

That wasn't the funny part though; Jasper got caught up in the mob and ended up slipping on a slick spot.

Of course, the other kids didn't care so they just stepped over him…or on top of him. It was just like a cartoon.

And Jasper's hair!! It looked worse than mine usually did, and that was saying something!

I helped him up and tried to hold back my laugh, noticing his pissed off expression, but couldn't hold it in when I saw Emmett, Alice, Rosalie, and Bella take in his appearance.

They looked at him clearly entertained, horrified, amused, and confused. Respectively.

Alice automatically ran up to figure out why Jasper looked so beaten up.

"Jazzy!! What happened?" she grabbed his hand and pulled him into a seat.

"I don't want to talk about it." He replied stoically looking down at the table.

Four heads whipped in my direction, searching for an answer.

I calmed down my laughter as I saw Emmett's eyes twinkling with excitement to hear the news of Jasper's humiliation.

"Well Jasper kind of got…attacked outside just a minute ago." I couldn't say anymore, remembering his scared face as the students trampled him brought on another fit of laughter

Alice gasped and turned back to her _Jazzy_, "Are you okay sweetie? Did they hurt you?"

Emmett made a gagging motion before encouraging me to provide more details.

"We were just about to walk in, but some freshman noticed it started snowing and I guess people in Forks like snow… _a lot_. Practically everyone went crazy and must not have noticed Jasper standing there, because they just ran right over him."

I could see the cogs in Emmett's head spinning as he tried to plan different forms of verbal attack about Jasper's incident.

:-:-:

The rest of the day was uneventful, except for the occasional joke aimed at Jazz.

Emmett had actually come up with a few good ones. When we were walking out from lunch he yelled, "SNOW!!" exactly like the kid did before. Jasper's face looked horrified, as I'm sure he remembered what happened last time he heard that. Then Emmett started barreling towards him at full speed.

I actually thought he was going to tackle him, but at the last millisecond Emmett swerved to the right and scooped up Rosalie as he carried her off to their next class.

I swear Jasper was hyperventilating.

Then, after the last bell rang, Emmett cuddled Jasper to his side.

"What are you doing?" Jasper asked utterly confused.

"Don't worry little brother, I'll protect you." He replied seriously.

"From what?!"

"Well you know how much these Forks folks like their snow. When we get outside I want to make sure you're not squashed again." He smirked.

"Get off me Emmett!! I'm perfectly fine!" he huffed and stormed off to go find Alice.

BPOV

I said goodbye to Edward when he had to go to basketball practice and I made my way to Sam's office. Today he wanted to take my brace off and see how much pressure could be put on it.

I was a little nervous. Knowing me, I would probably end up fracturing it a fourth time at the smallest amount of pressure placed on my leg.

"Afternoon Isabella!" Sam greeted me.

"Hey Sam." I went over to his 'secret' candy drawer and dug out a few twizzlers. "You know, if you wanted to keep this drawer a secret you shouldn't have told me about it. I'm a huge blabbermouth. Especially in my sleep." I admitted snickering.

"In your sleep?" he questioned.

I nodded and finished chewing, "Oh yeah! It's always the good secrets too, like who I'm crushing on, if I lied to someone, and where Mr. Uley's secret stash is." I teased.

"Ha. Ha." He snorted. "Alright, let's get started."

Sam led me over to a cot where I could lay my leg while he removed to brace.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" I was really worried I would hurt my leg again, setting me farther back to joining the team on the court again.

"I'm positive. If you can work a few exercises without this hunk of junk comfortably, your recovery will be faster."

"Okay." I breathed out.

He gently unclasped the clasps and unbuckled the buckles.

Boy did it feel good to not have that mound of plastic weighing me down!

"First just slightly rest it on the floor, but don't remove the weight from your left leg." He instructed.

I cautiously started lowering my foot to the cold tile floor. I hesitated as it got closer to meeting the hard surface, but felt no pain when they actually made contact.

"How does it feel?"

"Fine. I don't feel any pain at all." I answered simply.

"Next step, add a little pressure."

Feeling more confident I pressed my foot onto the ground lightly.

"Well?" Sam questioned.

"Nothing." I smiled.

"Okay, a little more."

I started shifting onto my right leg when a sting shot up from my ankle.

I hissed in pain and quickly flopped onto the cot.

"Good job Bella. I didn't think you would even be able to add any pressure at all! You are recovering nicely, but not enough to remove the brace for exercises."

I cursed under my breath. I really hated that stupid thing.

After re-attaching the brace, we went through my regular exercise routine and then I was free to go.

Before I left, Sam gave me permission to take off the brace if I was just lounging around the house. I just about attacked him I was so ecstatic.

To be honest, I had actually been taking it off at home when I just couldn't stand lugging my twenty pound leg around anymore, but I didn't have to tell him that.

With a newfound excitement I skipped, as well as I could, over to my truck to wait for Edward.

I was rocking out to a few of my favorite songs when I saw a few boys exit the gym.

Wanting to tell Edward how well my physical therapy session went today, I quickly left the cab of my truck to find him.

I saw his mop head through the window and let myself into the gym to wait until he was done talking to whoever he was talking to.

I was hidden behind a shelf of gym equipment, so neither of them could see me, but I knew whose voice was accompanying Edward's.

_Jonathan._

"I thought you got the message at the game the other night." Edward sneered.

"Totally, loud and clear. I'm just making sure you understand that if I wanted Bella, I could have her."

_I am not a thing to be had!_

Edward snorted, "And you think trying to claim her as a prize will get you on Bella's good side?"

_Yeah! Exactly! Nice one Edward!_

"I hate to break it to you _Cullen_, but I think she realizes the attraction we have between each other." Jonathan smiled smugly.

I bit back a snort of my own, _Attraction? Puh-leeze!_

"Just keep thinking that, Newton." Edward laughed darkly.

"Oh I will. Along with the way Bella laughs, her smile, those kiss-me lips, and that blush she gets when she gets flustered."

_Okay, ew._

Ben Cheney was walking through the gym and almost saw my hiding spot, but turned back around when he heard what Jon was talking about.

"Seriously Newton, Bella doesn't want you." Ben shouted.

"Says who?!" he hollered back.

"Uhh…Bella?" Edward and Ben replied at the same time.

"Liars." He grumbled.

_Wowww…_

"Look Jonathan, I have Bella waiting for me outside, so I have to be on my way. I'll be the first to congratulate you if you end up being her boyfriend." I knew he was joking, but I could see him wince at the thought of us not being together.

I felt the same way.

Edward turned his heel to join Ben, but was pulled back by Jon.

"I'm serious here. Bella _will _be my girlfriend. I always date the hottest girls in school and let me tell you something, your current girlfriend is at the top of my list." A creepy smile spread across his creepy face.

_If neither of you boys punches him, I will._

Emmett and Jasper exited the locker room and instantly realized what was going on.

"I thought I told you to back off." Emmett warned.

"And you thought that would actually work?" Newton scoffed.

"Dude, you are being a total asshole right now if you haven't realized. I think you should just walk away right now and leave Edward and Bella alone." Jasper tried resolving the situation calmly.

"Yeah…okay!" Jonathan laughed.

My fists were clenched at my sides and I was fuming. Here this guy was talking crap about how _attracted_ to him I was and how he was going to basically win me and I couldn't go up there and give him a piece of my mind!

Not that I should have to, because there were four boys defending me. But they weren't handling it the way I hoped.

_Jasper, I know that you feel violence is not the answer, but if you do not have someone deck Jonathan in the face in five seconds I will have to take matters into my own hands._

I could tell Edward was feeling the exact same way by how his shoulders were tensed and his fingers gripped tightly around the handle of his gym bag.

"Face it Newton, Bella doesn't like you. _At all_. I'm sure she'd go out with your twelve year old brother before even considering dating you." Emmett spat.

_He does have a point._

"Do you _not_ see the same Bella I see? Because what I see is someone who wants to get with Jonny Boy over here." Jonathan spoke angrily.

_Okay, screw this! I'm going to have to go out there._

"Who the _hell_ do you think you are?!" I accused him as I stomped awkwardly over to the five boys.

They all just stared at me slack jawed. Boys...

When he didn't answer I decided to try again, "I _said_, who the hell do you think you are talking about me like I'm a piece of meat!?"

"I-I-I…" he stammered.

"I-I-I what?! Seriously Jonathan I tried to be nice before, but cut the crap! I. Do. Not. Like. You! Nor will I ever! So quit going around bragging that you're going to 'get with me' because I can assure you that no one is 'getting with me' besides Edward over here." I nudged a thumb over at my still shocked boyfriend.

"You're making a huge mistake." He said getting right up in my face.

I smiled sweetly at him and turned to Edward.

"Remember what I said last night?" I hoped Edward would remember my request to punch Jonathan when he had the chance.

He nodded.

"Well…?" I asked impatiently tapping my foot on the gym floor.

I giggled a little when I saw Edward look over at Jasper for permission. Jasper nodded his head as well.

Edward took my place in front of Jonathan.

"This is your last warning." BAM! Right in the kisser!

"Next time I'll do more than wreck your face." Edward hissed and stalked towards the doors.

I still didn't feel like Jonathan got what he deserved, so while he was preoccupied with his throbbing face, I hoisted my braced leg back and swung it right where the sun don't shine.

Jonathan fell to the ground writhing in agony, one hand cupping his cheek and the other cupping his crotch.

"Cheap…shot…!" he gasped out.

"Well maybe you get the message now." I flipped my hair and met Edward where was just walking out the exit.

I could hear the remaining three boys adding their ending statements as I followed Edward to the truck.

"Hey…" I smiled sheepishly, "you're not mad at me for listening in on your conversation are you?"

He looked up and all the anger drained from his face. "Of course not. What you did in there was…" he took a minute to search for the right word, "…hot."

I replayed it back in my head, wondering if I had heard him correctly.

"Hot?"

He just nodded and fused his lips to mine.

_I never get tired of making up...or out._

"Well maybe now that we've taken care of Tanya and Jonathan our relationship can be drama-free for a while..." I sighed as my forehead rested against his.

He chuckled, "That would be nice."

**A/N: Yay! :) **

**Only about 4-5 more chapters left and an epilogue :( BUT, then its the sequel!! :)**

**lmao...so anyway... **

**Favorite part: When Bella takes charge of the Jonathan situation :P**

**Least: I don't think I reall yhave one for this chapter...huh. That's a first lol.**

**Your Favorite? Least?**

**Miss B is actually based on one of my real teachers...and she _is_ really awesome :)**

**I made a new banner!! Link is on my profile, its "Edward's Banner"**

**And I wanna do a quick shoutout to my twitter followers!! I love tweeting with you guys!! :)  
Nougat81  
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**Please Review :)**

**LOVE YOU!!**

**lleighh;;**


	24. Still got it

**A/N: Hola mis lectores! :)**

**SO!  
****This chapter is pure fun, no drama whatsoever! I know! It's a shocker to me too!**

**Comenzar! :)**

_A month later…_

BPOV

"You sure about this?" I fidgeted nervously in the all-too familiar chair in front of Mr. Uley's desk. I'm pretty sure my butt has made a permanent imprint in this thing.

"I won't let you hurt yourself again, Bella." Sam assured as he held out a hand to me.

I had been attending physical therapy ever day for about two weeks now since basketball tournaments were getting close. Today was the big day that the brace finally came off.

My caged leg would finally be able to move around freely, and I was scared out of my mind.

My first thought when I walked into Sam's office today and he told me it was time was 'Oh crap.'

I had been having a good day too, it was Friday, the sun was out, it wasn't terribly cold, and the teachers were generous enough to not give us homework over the weekend.

Don't get me wrong, I was really excited to have my leg back but I hadn't actually _used_ the thing in a month and a half.

I grasped Sam's hand and carefully stood up, still supporting my weight on my good leg.

"Bella…for this to work, you need to act like nothing ever happened to you, like it was any other day."

I gulped and slowly lowered my foot onto the floor, balancing my weight.

"Everything good?" Sam asks.

"Actually, yeah." I smiled back at him.

"Okay, now we're going to take a stroll around campus. Just let me know if it starts bothering you."

We walked around the school and visited all the teachers. Coach Clapp was ecstatic to see me without the brace and immediately started planning independent practices to get me back into shape.

Edward saw when I had entered the gym and not-so-subtly dribbled over to the basketball hoop near me to finish his shooting drills.

Mr. Uley and Coach Clapp started fighting about my limitations with physical activity and how long before I could play again, so I decided to take that opportunity and slip away.

"Well, well, well. Look at you walking around." Edward smiled.

"Pretty cool trick huh?" I quipped back.

He chuckled and tossed me the ball, "I know you can do more impressive things."

"I don't know…" I stared at the hoop, "It's been a while."

"Oh please! The great Bella Swan _doesn't_ lose her touch." He scoffed.

Cue eye roll.

"But I can understand if you don't want to embarrass yourself trying to look half as good as me on the court." He smirked.

That did it.

I dribbled the ball carefully towards the opposite end of the court, a little past the half court line. I closed my eyes and remembered back to the last game where there were only seconds left. Fans cheering, shoes squeaking on the floors, I could still remember that exact moment when I lined up my shot…hurled it toward the basket…and it went in!

"Yes!!" I squealed.

Almost everyone in the gym crowded around me and gushed about my _amazing_ shot. I caught Edward's gaze from outside the huddle and squeezed my way out of the mob of students.

"Guess I still got it, huh?" I nudged him in the side.

"I knew it." He smiled crookedly back.

-:-:-

News of my performance in the gym must have traveled fast, because three minutes later Alice was calling me as I sat on the bleachers in the gym waiting for Edward to finish practice.

"Hey Ali what's up?"

"What's up?! I'll tell you what's up! My best friend can walk again!!" She laughed.

"I could walk before!" I defended.

"No, not really. You just kind of waddled around."

"Gee, thanks." I replied dryly.

"Oh come on, you looked cute waddling! And when you 'ran'! Oh man, it was hilarious! You looked like a little penguin!"

"_Ha. Ha!_ What did you call me for Alice? Other than making fun of me…"

"Oh! Well I decided that we should all hang out tonight and celebrate your recovery! You and Edward don't have anything planned right?"

"Nope. What were you thinking of doing?"

"Well Jazz has been going on and on about some action/thriller movie that apparently Edward and Emmett are dying to see too, so if it doesn't look terribly heinous we might go see that. Then just go mess around in Walmart or something. And we have to go eat at Wendy's!" Alice had been obsessed with Wendy's since she was little when she realized that the girl on the sign looked like her, only with red hair. Her family used to call it 'Alice's' because she loved it so much.

"Wow, we haven't been there in forever…" Alice would drag Rose and me there everyday after she had gotten her license. Lately though, we'd been a little busy with the boys.

"I know!!" she agreed, "So what are you doing right now? _Besides_ schooling the boys' team your basketball skills…" she snickered.

"I just made the one shot. Jeez! You know, this is how rumors get started Alice, but right now I'm watching the end of the boy's practice."

"Oooh! Take a picture of Jazzy and send it to me! He's such a cutie when he's dribbling around the court."

I did as I was told and snapped a quick picture of Jasper as he worked on some drills. He caught me and cast a funny look at me, I just rolled my eyes and mouthed "Alice" to him.

He then proceeded to set the basketball down on the ground and flex his muscles. I shot him a questioning look and he pointed to my phone. I threw my head back laughing and took a second picture to send to Alice.

"Okay, two eye candy pictures coming your way!" I chuckled and sent Alice the two picture messages.

We waited in silence for her to receive them.

She giggled, "What a goober!"

Something about that word just sent me into a fit of laughter and I ended up having to set the phone down so I could hold my aching sides.

"What?" Alice asked wanting to be let in on the joke.

"I have no idea. Just the word 'goober!' " I laughed once again. "That, and I think I'm just in a really good mood right now!"

"Oh Bella, what am I going to do with you?"

I sighed, catching my breath again, "I honestly have no idea."

"Well, I have to go and sweet talk daddy into giving me shopping money for tonight. See you soon!"

"Wait. Shopping money?"

"We _are_ going to Walmart! I can't just leave a supercenter empty handed!"

"Oh, I see." I smiled as I pictured Alice walk up to her father with puppy dog eyes and try to explain to him her shopping obsession. "See you in a few."

I hung up and looked over at the clock, still ten more minutes until practice is over.

I sat there and watched the boys start their cool down run until I picked up my phone and called Rosalie.

"Hey Bells! So, I heard you made the guys' team look like pansies during their practice today." I could hear the amusement in her voice.

"I just made a shot from half court! It was no big deal! Who told you?"

"Just a little pixie we know…" she trailed off.

"I warned Alice about starting rumors." I grumbled.

She laughed and decided to change the subject, "So what are you doing?"

"Waiting for Edward to get out of practice."

"You two coming tonight?"

"Of course!! I'm not about to pass up Wendy's!" I exclaimed. Okay, I admit Alice did get me hooked.

"We're going to Wendy's?!" Rosalie got hooked too.

"Yeah!! Where else would we eat when Alice is with us?" I joked.

"True, true." She snickered.

"What are you up too?"

"Ugh, nothing at all! Just counting down the minutes until tonight. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually wish I homework to keep me busy!"

"Whoa! You _must_ be bored." Rosalie absolutely detested anything academic related.

Edward, Emmett, and Jasper finished their final lap near where I was seated and walked over to me.

"Who are you talking to?" Emmett asked.

"None of you're business nosy!" I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Who are you talking to?" Rosalie asked exactly like Emmett did.

"Emmett."

"What?" he thought I was talking to him.

"Not you."

"What?" Rosalie repeated in my other ear thinking I was speaking to her.

"Not you." I tried to telling her.

"You already said that." Emmett looked at me like I was crazy.

"Not you!" I huffed, frustrated.

"Then who?" they both said simultaneously.

"Oh my god! It's crazy how alike you are!" I laughed like a mad woman.

"Who?!" they both said again, getting impatient with me.

Jasper and Edward were off to the side trying to hold in their laughter that was just about to spill out as they watched me try to have a conversation with two people at once.

I covered the speaker of my phone and turned to Emmett. "Okay, I am talking to Rosalie! When you asked me who I was talking to, she thought I was talking to her and then I told her I wasn't and then you thought I was talking to you, but I was really talking to Rose. Then you thought I was repeating myself when I was talking to her. And I was talking about you and Rosalie being so alike because you were both asking me who I was talking to at the exact same time!" I was out of breath after trying to explain my complicated situation.

"Soo…who's on the phone?" Emmett scratched his head.

"Your girlfriend!" I said throwing my hands up in the air. _Didn't I just explain this?!_

"Bella? Belllllaaaaa! Isabella Marie Swan did you hang up on me?!" Rosalie yelled, still on the line.

I held up a finger motioning Emmett to be quiet. "No Rose, I'm still here." I went into the whole story about talking to her and Emmett at the same time again and just guess what she asked me?

"So who were you talking to earlier when you kept repeating 'Not you'?"

"Emmett!!" I yelled.

"What?" he asked me.

_Not this again!_

Luckily Edward saved me from pulling my hair out by taking Emmett to the side and explain to him what was going on while Jasper snatched my phone away and did the same for Rose.

Those two are made for each other. Seriously, no one else could handle them.

I flopped back on the bleachers exhausted.

-:-:-

We got to Port Angeles around seven o'clock and immediately stopped at Wendy's.

"You have no idea how excited I am!!" Alice squealed as she opened the door to the restaurant.

"Apparently not…" Edward mumbled. He didn't understand our infatuation with thus particular fast food chain.

"Have you ever eaten here?" I questioned.

"Nuh-uh. They didn't have many fast food places near the town I lived in Alaska." He shrugged.

"Oh man, you're missing out!" I marched up to the counter, ordered myself a chicken sandwich combo with a chocolate frosty and extra honey mustard sauce, then the exact same for Edward.

I grabbed our tray and lead him to a table all six of us could fit at and placed Edward's meal in front of him.

"Now what?" he asked.

"You eat…" I chuckled.

"Yes, thanks for pointing out the obvious Einstein. I meant is there a special 'Wendy's way' I'm supposed to eat this." He smirked.

"As a matter of fact there is." I told him smugly, "You dip the sandwich in the honey mustard sauce and dip your fries in the frosty."

His face twisted into disgust. "Fries and ice cream?"

"It's good! Just try it." He shook his head, "For me?" I pouted.

"Fine…!" he sighed dramatically.

_Yeah, try to resist my charms Cullen!_

I watched him carefully as he stuck his french fry into the milkshake. Before placing it into his mouth though, he studied it for a good minute wondering if he was actually gonna go through with it.

He glanced at me as if I would let him off the hook, but I used Alice's famous puppy dog eyes against him.

He hesitantly brought it up to his lips, then squeezed his eyes shut and munched down.

I waited for him to chew and swallow before asking.

"So…?"

"That was...surprisingly good." He grabbed another fry and dipped it into his frosty.

"What are you doing?!" Jasper and Emmett asked as disgusted as Edward was earlier.

I noticed Alice and Rosalie ordered for them too.

"Its good!" he defended.

I sent a pointed look at the girls and they immediatly taught their boys how to properly eat a Wendy's meal.

-:-:-

We ended up skipping the movie because Alice watched the trailer for it and thought it was too much blood and car chases for her, so we headed over to Wally World.

Alice grabbed a cart as soon as we stepped through the automatic doors.

"First we shop, then we play!" she instructed.

We followed her around the entire store as she tossed a wide variety of things into her basket. They ranged from hair products to iTunes cards.

"Alllliceeee!" Emmett whined, "I'm soooooo boreddddd!"

"Oh quit you big baby, I'm done! To the checkout!!" She charged towards the front of the store.

I watched as Alice ignored all the regular cashiers and made a beeline for the self-checkout.

Apparently, the Walmart workers didn't bag items the way Alice liked, so she would rather fight with the machine than tell the others how to do their job.

"_Please place item into bag_." The robot lady instructed.

"I'm getting to that, just hold on!" she scolded the computer.

Then one of her items wouldn't scan so she waved it furiously over the red laser until she got _so_ frustrated she shoved the object into my hands for me to try.

I gently glided the pack of gum over the scanner and it made a 'bing' and added it to her list of items.

"Argghhhhh!! How did you do that?!" she growled.

"You just have to be patient with it." I told her.

"I'll show you patient." She mumbled and went back to scanning.

"_Please choose payment method_." The machine asked when Alice finally had everything bagged.

She pressed the 'Cash' button on the screen.

"_Please choose payment method_." It repeated.

She pressed again, a little harder this time.

"_Please choose payment method_."

"Ughh!!" she huffed and pressed on the screen repeatedly.

"_Please choos-Please choos-Please choos-Please choos- Please choose payment method_." It stuttered.

"Bella help!!" Alice wailed as the rest of our friends tried to disguise their giggles with coughs.

I barely pressed the area on the touch-screen when, "_Please insert your money now_." sounded from the speakers.

I smiled apologetically at a fuming Alice who thrust her money into my hand, "I quit." then motioned for me to finish up her checkout.

-:-:-

After having the boys carry Alice's bags out to the car, Rosalie proposed a game of hide-and-seek.

"I'm in!" Emmett pumped his fist in the air, "And I call Alice for my team!"

"Hey!!" Rosalie glared at him.

"Well, she's just so small and can probably fit in more places…" he smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry Em, but I don't want to be on your team. You're too big to fit anywhere." Alice chuckled.

"I call Bella!" Edward blurted out.

"Aww, how cute! But we're going boys versus girls, sorry lover boy." Rosalie patted Edward's back.

I giggled when Edward's face dropped a little, but a quick peck on his cheek brightened his mood again.

"So what are the rules?" Jasper asked.

"You have to catch all three members of the other team in order to win, no calling cell phones to try and follow the ringing, and we have to start at opposite ends of the store. Five minutes until the game starts. Assume battle positions!" Emmett quickly grabbed his brother's arms and dragged them toward the grocery section of the store while us girls made our way over to clothing.

EPOV

"So what's our strategy?" I asked.

"Turn your phone on silent, we will all three take sections at this end and wait for the girls to come over to our end of the store. When you see one of them text the other two of us with their location, who you see, and the where they're headed." Jasper explained.

"Emmett, you cover frozen foods, I'll take the deli, and Edward, you'll cover dairy products. If you catch one of them cover their mouth so they can't scream for backup. Got it?"

"Yes sir!" Emmett saluted.

I glanced at my watch, "The game officially started two and a half minutes ago, retreat to war zone!" I ordered, playing along with Emmett.

I swiftly walked to where the milk sat and strolled casually up and down the aisles of yogurt and cheese.

Behind a tub a blueberry yogurt I saw a blur of blonde locks whiz by.

My fingers fumbled over the keys as adrenaline coursed through my veins.

_Target acquired! Rosalie is heading over to you Jasper, and fast!_

I heard a yelp from Emmett's section as I received a text message.

**Bella, 2:00! Crap she's coming right for me! Mayday, mayday, mayday!**

Of course Emmett would get captured first, I shook my head picturing my goofball of a brother get taken out by Bella.

I love her. Any girl who can beat Emmett at his own game is a winner in my book.

Getting back to the task at hand, I stealthily maneuvered over to the frozen foods. I somehow made it unnoticed by the girls to find Emmett trapped in a booth at the snack area, Rosalie keeping guard.

_Emmett's out._

I could hear Jasper groan from five aisles away.

**OMG! Already? fyi, Alice and Bella are headed to the cereal aisle from the looks of it, meet me there.**

I crept into aisle ten by the Lucky Charms, when a hand clasped my shoulder from behind.

I jumped in surprise and spun around to see Jasper, face red, as he tried to keep himself from bursting out laughing.

"Sorry…I…didn't mean to…..scare you!" he gasped for air.

"Shutup!" I growled.

I heard a familiar giggle come from the aisle next to us. I motioned for Jasper to keep quiet and meet me on the other side so we could trap them.

I slowly slinked around to shelves and then started charging full speed towards the girls.

Bella looked at me with wide eyes before a smirk made its way to her face. Then, her and Alice switched positions so I was now sprinting towards her small spiky haired friend.

Alice cringed away as I got closer, so I slowed down not wanting to barrel over her. Jasper wouldn't be too happy with me.

All of the sudden I hear "Go!" and Alice starts bolting toward me and throws her hands around my waist, securing my arms to my sides.

"Got him!" she cheered.

"Me too!" Bella replied in the same jubilant tone. I looked up and found Jasper in a similar position.

We were lead to where Emmett was held prisoner and when he saw we had just lost the game he dropped his head into his hands, "Epic fail men, epic fail."

I heard the girls hug and congratulate each other on their 'epic win.'

"Maybe next time boys." They giggled.

**A/N: See? What'd I tell ya? Pure fun :)**

**Favorite: The three-way converation Bella had with Emmett and Rosalie & Alice fighting with the self-checkout machine :)  
I have to admit, I _have_ acted like Alice towards those things before, but they're wayy more fun than normal check-out :P**

**Least: I do not have one, except for maybe how long it took me to update...sorry everybody :( forgive me? :)**

**Let me know you're fav and least fav part!**

**AND**

**Crazy things you and your friends do in Walmart! I totally play hide and seek _everytime_ I go there with friends...its like a tradition :P**

**Thanks for Reading!  
Please Review!  
LOVE YOU!!**

**lleighh;;**


	25. I was an iPod!

**A/N Hey everybody :)**

**Sorry I was gone for so long but I just got caught up in family time during Thanksgiving :P**

**This is part 1 of christmas break part 2 _should_ follow shortly :)**

**Begin!!**

BPOV

"Five laps, now!" Coach Clapp ordered. _Oh how I've missed practice…_

It was my first week back at regular practices and my limbs had turned into jelly only on the second day.

_Thank god it's Friday!_ I thought as I rounded the corner of my final lap.

"Alright ladies, bring it in!" Coach blew her whistle signaling we could stop.

I practically crawled over and waited for my other teammates to join me. "Now I know winter break starts the moment you step out of this gym, but that doesn't mean you get to fill up on Christmas cookies and come back out of shape." She started to pass around sheets of paper. "I've talked to your parents and they know to make sure you get all of these workouts done during your time off."

An audible groan escaped everyone's mouth.

"Other than that, happy holidays!" she smiled brightly at us.

I looked over the workout schedule and groaned once more.

_Monday, Wednesday, Friday – A one-mile run, 200 ab crunches, 50 pushups_

_Tuesday, Thursday – A two-mile run_

I stuffed the paper in the bottom of my gym bag and slipped on my sweats before leaving the locker room.

Edward was waiting for me by his car when I reached the parking lot.

I stumbled over him, almost slipping on the newly formed ice, and crashed into his side.

"Whoa! You okay?" he asked while supporting my weight.

I leaned my head on his shoulder, "Shoot. Me. Now."

There was no answer so I assumed he was confused. I reached a hand into my bag and threw the workout regimen at him.

"Wow…all we have to do is run half an hour every other day…" he chuckled.

"Quit laughing buddy, you're gonna do this with me." I said as I poked his chest.

"Yeah right!" he scoffed while opening the car door for me.

"Pllleeeaaasssseeeee?" I pouted.

"I'm gonna have to go with…no." he smirked.

"Edward!!" I whined.

"Bella!!" he mocked.

"You _will_ be working out with me over break." I huffed, folding my arms over my chest.

"Will not."

"Will to."

"Won't."

"Will."

"Nuh-uh."

"Yes-huh."

:-:-:

We were still going at it as Edward pulled into his garage.

"You will." I stated confidently now.

"No I won't."

"Yes."

"Nope."

"Yes you will!" I pointed a finger at him.

"Okay." He shrugged.

"Really?" Didn't think it would be that easy…

He leaned in, mere centimeters from my face, eyes locked on my and whispered, "Nahh…" and then shot like a bullet out of the car and into his house.

"EDWARD CULLEN, DON'T YOU RUN AWAY FROM ME!!" I yelled at his retreating form.

I put on my best game face and calmly made my way into the Cullen's home.

"What'd you do to him?" Carlisle teased.

"Nothing…" I replied innocently.

"Righhht…" Carlisle chuckled and walked off muttering about us 'goofy kids.'

"Esme?" I called out as I searched the downstairs. "Esme??" I jumped when she came around the corner.

I put on my best 'Edward-needs-to-get-in-trouble' pout and she noticed, "What's wrong dear?"

I solemnly handed her the crumpled up workout sheet and she read over it. "Oh my, Edward has to do this too?"

_Hook._

"Well no, the boys got a measly 30 minute run..."

"That doesn't seem fair." She agreed.

_Line._

"And I asked Edward to keep me company while I ran and stuff, and he said no…" I jutted out my bottom lip for extra effect.

"He said no?" she raised an eyebrow.

_Sinker!_

I nodded sadly.

"EDWARD! Come here now!"

"Yeah?" he hesitantly walked over.

"I was just talking to Bella and she told me about your daily workout you have to do during Christmas break…"

He looked over at me and gave me the stink eye, already knowing where this was going. I just smirked back.

"Oh that, yeah, Coach is making us run about a mile everyday. Pretty brutal is you ask me…" he stated adverting his gaze from me and unleashing 'momma's boy' onto Esme.

"I suppose, but did you hear what the girls have to do?" she asked waving the paper in the air.

"Uhh…I think. Bella _may_ have…mentioned it…"

"So you know how long it will take her everyday to complete this?" she questioned. I was a little confused, not knowing where Esme was going with this.

"I-I guess…" Edward stammered.

"And you're willing to sit around the house for about two hours everyday when you could be spending time with Bella?"

"Well when you put it that way…" he sighed.

_Esme is brilliant._

"So you'll workout with me?" I asked sweetly.

"Yes.." he nodded reluctantly.

"Thanks Esme!" I gave her a quick hug and ran to Edward.

:-:-:

"No, no, no, no, _no_!" Emmett huffed.

"Well then I have no idea! What the heck was that?!" Rosalie snapped back.

"I was an iPod!!"

"An iPod?! Who in their right mind would try to act out an iPod?!"

"Me! Obviously!" Emmett threw his hands in the air dramatically.

It was technically the first day of winter break and we had all been snowed in at the Cullen household.

Esme had invited all of us girls over for dinner last night and when it was time to head home, we realized it had snowed two inches and was sleeting at that moment.

The parents trusted us enough to let the boys camp out in the living room with us, so that's how we got here, 2:18 in the morning, playing charades.

"I want to switch teams!" Rosalie whined.

We had chosen to pair up as couples when the boys complained about losing again if we split up according to gender.

So far Alice and Jasper were in the lead, not losing even one round, Edward and I came in second because, well let's just say its not too hard to be ahead of Emmett and Rose.

"I call Alice!!" Emmett immediately yelled.

"Alright." Alice chuckled.

"What is it with you always wanting to be on the same team as _my_ girlfriend?" Jasper questioned.

"Yeah!" Rose added.

"She just happens to be a very good at all the games we play…" he explained.

Jasper and Rosalie rolled their eyes.

I ended up partnering with Jasper leaving Rosalie and Edward together.

Jasper leaned over and whispered in my ear, "I think we can win because we're the only team without an Emmett or Rosalie and let's face it, they suck." He snickered.

I laughed in agreement and four heads whipped in our direction. "Having fun over there?" Alice glared at us jokingly.

"Jasper…" Edward warned.

"Don't worry Edward, if I fall madly in love with Jasper I'll make sure you're the first to know." I giggled.

Edward didn't find it funny.

As Jasper predicted though, we did win. I thought Rosalie's lion was a bird and Emmett's Elvis was…well I really didn't have a clue.

Jasper was right, they did suck.

The game finally ended around 3:30 a.m. and we were exhausted.

We all climbed into our sleeping bags and waited to drift off to sleep.

That never happened.

I was stuck between Edward and Emmett. From Emmett's snoring and Edward's heavy breathing I couldn't relax.

Apparently Rose was having the same problem.

I heard a 'thunk' and then Emmett's snores halt.

"Stopp ittt…" he groaned sleepily.

"Then quit snoring! You sound like a bulldozer." Rosalie whisper-yelled.

"I do not!" he defended.

"Anybody else still awake because of the human tractor over here?"

"Me." I called out.

"Me too." I heard Alice chime in.

"Then come on girls, we're finding somewhere quieter!" she marched out of the living room.

We ended up sprawled out under the dining room table.

"Night girls." I sighed, finally happy to get some shut eye.

"Night." Alice and Rose said together.

EPOV

I was expecting to wake up with Bella snuggled up next to me, but Emmett was there instead.

"Whoa!! You are _not_ Bella!" I screeched, my voice still thick from sleep.

A few snorts escaped him before reaching consciousness.

"What gave me away?" he asked sarcastically.

Jasper woke up from all the commotion and sat up rubbing his eyes, "Alice?"

Emmett looked around too still only half awake, "Rosie?"

"The girls aren't here." I stated the obvious while both of my brothers proceeded to look around the room.

"Where would they be?" Jasper asked.

I glanced at the clock and groaned; it was only 6:00 a.m. "I don't know, its not like they could drive home the snow plows probably haven't even made it out this way yet. They've got to be in the house."

"Let's just go back to sleep guys, it's too early for me to function…" Emmett yawned and slipped back into his sleeping bag.

Jazz and I followed suit and tried going back to bed.

It was definitely a lost cause.

"This is not working out for me!" Jasper huffed, "I miss Alice…"

"Agreed!" I started to follow Jasper to look for the girls.

"You two sound like a bunch of girls…" Emmett grumbled even though he decided to come too.

We all started searching different areas of the house. I secretly hoped Bella was in my room and I could just crawl into bed with her.

I discovered a new found energy to sprint up to my bedroom, but she wasn't in there. I was pretty disappointed.

We probably searched the house for a good fifteen minutes before finding our girlfriends snuggled up together under the dining room table.

"How come they couldn't do that with us last night?!" Emmett stared in disbelief.

I just shrugged and watched him get on all fours as he crawled over to where Rosalie laid.

He pressed a hand on her shoulder, but before he got the chance to shake her so she would wake up Jasper spoke.

"You sure that's such a good idea man? You know she isn't the most pleasant morning person…"

Emmett just scoffed and began shaking her.

"What is it?!" Rosalie groaned.

Emmett didn't answer her, but slowly started to lift her off the ground.

"Let go!" she started to kick and flail her arms around repeatedly hitting Em in the face.

Jasper and I had to keep a hand over our mouths so we didn't start laughing.

"Chill Rosie! I'm just taking you back to the living room!"

"So you can snore in my ear again?!" she screeched.

"No…ow!" Emmett had lifted his head abruptly and banged it on the bottom of the table. I couldn't take it any more and fell to the ground in a fit of laughter.

"Well that why did you decide to wake me up?" She asked clearly annoyed and not caring about the goose egg forming on the back of Emmett's head.

"I just wanted to cuddle with you…" he pouted.

That did it for Rosalie and she allowed him to carry her back to the living room.

Lucky for me Bella is a heavy sleeper, so I just scooped her up in my arms and lowered her to the couch before slipping in behind her.

She flipped around in her sleep to face me, "Edward…love…you…" and clung to the t-shirt I was wearing.

Pretty sure I fell back asleep looking like I had a hanger in my mouth.

:-:-:

What seemed like seconds later I felt someone poking my face.

"Rise and shine sleepyhead." Bella giggled.

I tightened my arms around her and nuzzled my face in the crook of her neck, "No…!" I whispered groggily.

I could feel the vibration of her laughter and then murmurs from other people as she talked to them.

I thought everyone had left so I quickly flipped Bella onto her back, careful not to press my weight on her as I hovered over her. At first she looked startled but then after I gave her a good morning kiss a blush crept to her cheeks. I didn't understand why until there were snickers coming from my brothers and mom to the left of us.

I cleared my throat and hopped off of the couch while Bella hid under the blanket.

"Uhm…good morning." I cleared my throat nervously.

"Looks like you had a…good night…" My mother coughed to hide her laughter.

Thank goodness for Jasper, he ushered Esme out of the room quickly as he went on about how much longer he couldn't go without breakfast.

This left Emmett and I staring at each other and Bella still buried under a cover.

"Edward, Edward, Edward." He tsked, "The excited type in the morning I see…" he teased.

"Get out!" I pointed towards to doorway.

"Fine, but if you two decide to show a little PDA again, warn us please." Emmett chuckled.

"Out!" Bella and I yelled at the same time.

I turned around and saw Bella lying on the couch still red in the face.

"That was embarrassing Edward…" she sighed.

"Sorry…I thought everyone had left..." I smiled sheepishly, "I promise to never do anything like that again." I stated crossing my heart.

"Well I didn't say I didn't like it…" she blushed again.

"Hmm...in that case…" I walked back over to her and started from where we left off.

"Edward…what if someone comes in again?" Bella asked worriedly.

Right on cue I heard a giggle coming from the doorway, "Oops! Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt…" Alice giggled again before flitting away.

"Come on Edward, we better stop before anybody else sees us." Bella started getting up from the couch reluctantly.

"Rose and my dad are the only ones left…what harm could it do for two measly people to see us?" I pointed out.

"Edward!" Bella scolded.

"It was worth a shot…" I mumbled.

:-:-:

"Ready?" Bella asked enthusiastically.

"I guess so…" I sighed dramatically.

She slapped me on the chest and feigned hurt. "You mean you don't want to workout with me?"

"Workout, no. Hang out, yes." I replied.

We had just finished our 200 ab crunches and 50 pushups. I didn't feel like running, I just wanted to fall over and sleep.

"Well I don't see why the boys got off so easily! How do you get a wimpy thirty minute run and I get a freaking personal trainer!?"

"Maybe Coach Clapp is trying to tell you guys something, like you're all out of shape…" I joked.

That earned me another slap, "Hey! I was just joking!"

"Yeah, yeah…joke all you want Cullen. My girls could beat your boys' ass any day." She smirked and sprinted off.

"Cheater!" I yelled before trying to catch up with her.

We ended up running all the way to the park for our mile. Of course, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to play one-on-one with Bella once I saw the vacant court.

I chucked her the ball and she looked at me like I was crazy. "Edward, there is ice covering the entire thing! You know I'm gonna slip."

I walked up to her and threw her over my shoulder, "Well I guess I'll just have to be ready to catch you."

"Put me down you big meany!" She started punching me in my back.

"Big meany huh?" I gently tossed her onto the pile of snow in front of me.

"Edward! I cannot believe you just did that!" she looked shocked.

"Its just a little snow…" I smiled at her as I bent down and packed together a snowball.

"Don't do it...I know what you're thinking Edward…hit me with that thing and you're dead." She slowly lifted herself to her feet.

"Is that a threat Miss Swan?" I teased.

"Just hand it over Edward…" She beckoned with her hand as she moved closer.

"What fun would that be?" I noticed she had a hand behind her back with her own snowball in it. "Besides, I can't leave myself unarmed."

"I don't know what you're talking about." She said trying not to smile.

Before I had time to think she whipped the ball of ice at me and it hit me square in the face.

"Oh my gosh! Edward I'm so sorry! I was aiming for you're chest." She ran over to me and wiped the melting snow off of my face.

"Sure…" I teased before rubbing my own snowball in her face.

"Cold!!" she squealed. "Edward Cullen! Mine was not on purpose!"

"Aww, come here Bells. I'm sorry." I said trying to help her.

"No! You have done enough!" She scolded, but I could tell she was trying hard not to laugh.

"Bella? I'm reallllyyy sorry. Please forgive me." I pouted.

"Really sorry?" she asked.

"Really, Really." I smiled and grabbed her around the waist.

"I guess I forgive you." She sighed, "But only since you're really, really sorry."

"So can we play now?" I asked anxiously before pressing my lips to hers.

"Yes." She laughed.

**A/N :)**

**1. So New Moon?!? OH MY JACOB BLACK!! It was AMAZING!! :) I've seen it twice already and will probably go everyday this week :P**

**2. This story is slowly coming to and end :( three more chapters left and an epilogue...**

**3. Favorite part?**

**Mine:When Edward and Bella got caught during their personal display of affection :P**

**I decided to eliminate least favorite parts because no one really has any, but if you want to let me know your least favorite part you are more than welcome to :)**

**Please Review :)**

**LOVE YOU!!**

**'lleighh;;**


	26. Belly!

**A/N: OMEC! 5,600+ words! I just couldn't find a stopping point :) there's a lot of good parts in this chapter!**

**Celebrate your Christmas early this year with me and the twilight gang :)...go!**

BPOV

December 24, Christmas Eve. Also known as the day my mother throws her annual holiday party, inviting the entire town.

Guests are scheduled to arrive in about two hours, which is why Renee is running around like a headless chicken making sure nothing is out of place. She worries like this every year and considering she's hosted this same party since I was one, she should know by now everything will go off without a hitch.

But, sadly, Renee hasn't realized this bit of information yet.

"BELLA! Make sure the doorbell works! What if someone decided to show up early and they're standing out in the cold because we can't hear it ringing?" She called out to me while doing god knows what in the kitchen.

_Crazy woman…she already had Charlie check it once earlier today…_I shuffled to the door and stepped onto the snow covered porch.

I pushed the button and heard it chime through the house. Renee came running down the hallway but stopped short.

"Oh! I thought someone had arrived." She huffed.

"You _just_ told me to come out here and check the doorbell mom."

"Well it works, now get back in here! We're not trying to heat the outdoors." She scolded before shutting the front door as I walked back in.

She appraised my outfit for a second before pointing towards the stairs, "Go change Isabella. The family will be over here in a few minutes and then the Cullen's, Hale's, and Brandon's will be over at 6 to help set up the food."

As soon as I heard 'Cullen', I dashed upstairs and threw off my sweatpants replacing them with the green dress Alice had gotten me for tonight. Apparently she had a white one and Rose had a red one, so together we were Christmas colors.

I ran a brush through my hair quickly and slipped on a headband since it wasn't cooperating with me. I heard some murmurs downstairs and assumed a few people had arrived.

I reached the living room and saw all my cousins, aunts, uncles, and my grandparents had arrived.

My Dad's side of the family spends Christmas with us because they're closest and we travel to Phoenix where my Mom's lives for Thanksgiving and Easter.

My five younger cousins came running up as soon as they saw me.

"Bellyyy! Play a game with us! Play a game with us!" they all chanted together.

I looked up pleadingly at the adults, but got no sympathy from their parents. They probably wanted a little break from the little balls of energy.

Charlie had a younger sister, Sue, who was married to Harry and had 10-year-old twin boys, Aaron and Alex. His younger brother, Billy was married to Deborah and had two daughters, Samantha who was 11, Morgan who was 6, and a son, Jack, who was 9.

When they got together, the fab-five could tire you out faster than running a marathon.

"You kids sure you wanna play with Bells? She's not as fun as she used to be." Charlie chuckled.

He got a slap on the arm from Grams, "Hush up you. Come here Bella, you've grown so much since I saw you last!" she gushed.

I sat there and caught up with Grandma Swan until the kids started tugging on my arm again.

Grams leaned in and whispered in my ear before I left, "I'll try to come bail you out when your friends get here." She winked and I gave her a grateful smile.

The twins and Morgan had each brought a backpack with their favorite toys in it, so we ended up playing cops and robbers with Barbies. Morgan started crying when Jack accidentally popped off Superstar Barbie's head, but Samantha helped snap it back on.

I heard the doorbell ring and I secretly hoped someone was coming to save me.

Alice skipped in and saw what we were doing and decided to join us. Rosalie arrived next and thought the game looked fun and joined also.

"Put your hands in the air and no one gets hurt!" Aaron said in a deep voice while bobbing the doll to make it look like Ken was talking.

"But Ken, I didn't do it!" Alice's Barbie pleaded.

Some how our game turned into a life-size version, so we tossed the dolls to the side and formed teams.

Aaron, Alex, and Jack were the cops because 'they were guys' and Samantha, Morgan, Alice, Rose, and myself were the robbers of a jewelry store because 'girls like shiny things', according to Jack.

Samantha and I were stealthily peeking around the corner at the boys who were guarding the entrance to the 'jewlery store'. Our plan was for Samantha and I to be the distraction while Alice, Rose, and Morgan stole the world's most expensive diamond.

I was just about to make my move when I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Shh, Samantha. Remember, the plan is to jump out and scare the boys. Then you get Jack, I have Aaron and Alex." I whispered.

I heard her giggle so I turned around and saw Edward standing there with the most amused expression on his face.

He opened his mouth to speak, but I quickly clamped my hand over it, "Be quiet, we're about to win."

He nodded and I released my hand. Samantha jumped out from behind the wall and yelled, "BOO!" As the boys screamed, I threw my arms around the twins while Samantha held Jack's hands behind his back.

"Go, go, go!" I hollered. Alice, Rose, and Morgan came charging down the stairs and snatched the 'diamond' off the table. It was actually the centerpiece for the dining room table, but we have a pretty good imagination.

We all started cheering because of our victory while the boys accused us of not being fair. Emmett, Jasper, and Grams came in, wondering what all the noise was. Edward was doubled over in laughter.

"My, my children. You sure know how to make a commotion." Grandma snickered. "Come on kids, Belly has company over now." I promised my little cousins we would play with them again later as they went back to the living room.

"Belly?" Emmett asked.

I groaned, I had forgotten they called me that, "Yeah, Samantha started calling me that when she was a baby and everyone thought it was funny so that's what I go by when Charlie's side of the family is here…" I blushed.

They all started laughing at me so I crossed my arms over my chest and left. I didn't think it was the best nickname, but Samantha gave it to me so I loved it.

I wasn't mad that they were laughing, I just didn't want to stand there and listen to them making fun of me, so I went to check on things in the kitchen.

Renee, Esme, Sue, Deborah, Alice's Mom, Pam, and Rose's mom, Sarah, were all gathered around the counter getting the food ready. I wandered over to the desserts and eyed the cookies. I smiled sweetly up and Aunt Sue and she slipped me one when Renee wasn't looking.

I sat on the stool helping Aunt Deborah put together the veggie tray after I quickly shoved the cookie in my mouth.

"Where's all your friends Bells?" Aunt Deb asked.

"They're all standing in the hallway making fun of me so I decided to come in here." I laughed.

She laughed too, but then changed the subject "So…I heard from your mom you're dating one of those Cullen boys that arrived earlier. Which one is he?"

"Edward, the one with the messy hair." I laughed again nervously.

"Ohhh, the cute young one?" Aunt Deb gushed.

"Yeah, _I guess_ he's pretty cute…" I joked.

"You guess?" I heard Edward ask from behind me.

I nodded my head and spun around to face him. "You do have a funny shaped nose, other than that you're pretty cute." I teased.

He covered his nose and feigned hurt, "Really?"

"No, of course not! I love your nose." I smiled.

"As much as you love me?" I widened my eyes at his question, I mean, my Aunt was right there. I didn't think she knew about…_that_.

"Yes." I said quickly as I jumped off the stool and tugged Edward out of the room.

"Edward! I can't believe you just did that!" I whisper-yelled.

"Did what?" he asked.

" 'As much as you love me?' That was my aunt in there! I don't think she knows how serious we are, it sounded like she just found out we were dating recently."

"I kind of forgot she was there…" he admitted sheepishly.

"Well she definitely was." I laughed.

"I was actually coming to find you. Why'd you leave?" He asked as he led me to the dining room.

"Well you guys were making fun of me, so instead of listening to you, I decided to wait until you were done and then come back."

"Sorry…it's just a funny nickname." He apologized.

"I wasn't mad, don't worry." I squeezed his hand to reassure him.

We sat down at the table where Alice, Jasper, Rose, and Emmett were talking.

"Okay, everyone's here now. Present time!!" Alice clapped her hands together.

Rose thought it would be a good idea to exchange gifts at the Christmas party since we would all be together. I told them to hang on for a second while I rushed up to my room to get the bag with everyone's gift.

We all agreed that since the guys wouldn't know what to get for us girls, besides their girlfriends, and vice versa that we would get everyone's gifts as a couple. I picked out Alice and Rose's gifts while Edward picked out Emmett and Jasper's.

For Alice, we gave her a pink Snuggie she had been asking for since she saw the infomercial and a purple hobo bag she saw at the mall once, but never bought for herself. Rose and Emmett got her a gift certificate to get a pedicure.

Next, Rose got a pair of heels she'd had her eye on since school started and her favorite brand of hairspray from Edward and me. And from Alice and Jasper she got a digital key chain that held up to 500 pictures.

I got a certificate to get a pedicure from Rose also, she planned on taking us to the mall this Saturday for a girls' day. And a dress from Alice and Jasper that apparently just 'screamed my name!'

Emmett got the whole first and second LOST series from Edward and me and the third and fourth series from Alice and Jasper. The boys laughed about how easy it was to get his present.

Jasper got a subscription to some history magazines he liked from Edward and me and a gift certificate to his favorite restaurant, Buffalo Wild Wings from Emmett and Rosalie.

Edward got a car adapter for his iPod from Alice and Jasper and an iTunes card from Emmett and Rosalie.

"Looks, like you guys didn't feel like shopping this year." I joked to Rosalie and Emmett as I looked at everyone's presents and noticed they had gotten everyone some sort of gift certificate.

"Well we spent all our time finding each other's gift, that by the time we got around to yours, neither of us felt like shopping anymore." Emmett huffed in exhaustion.

We split up to give our couple's gifts so Edward and I stayed in the dining room while the other four went to find another room to exchange gifts in.

I was extremely nervous to give Edward his present, I was so sure that he would like it when I bought it, but now I was second-guessing myself.

"You first." I told Edward, getting more nervous by the second.

He chuckled and pulled a small, flat snowflake box out from under the table.

He smiled as he handed it to me but took a deep breath when I slipped my fingernail under the wrapping paper and tore it off.

It was a plain black box. I lifted the lid and found a simple silver necklace with a heart charm.

"Flip it over." Edward said shakily.

I turned the heart over and there was and engraving on the back.

_Yours, Forever._

"Oh Edward, I love it." I smiled at him. "Will you help me put it on?"

"Of course." He sounded like he let out a sigh of relief.

I handed him the necklace and lifted my hair off my neck. His shaky hands took a few tries to get the hook clasped, but when he did he left a lingering kiss on the back of my neck.

I turned back around so he could see it on me, "How does it look?"

"Beautiful." He said as he got the widest grin on his face.

"Now your turn." I said, getting a little more excited to see his reaction to his present.

I handed him the bag and he took out the wrapping paper and reached his hand in. First he pulled out the picture. It was a simple silver frame with "I'm only me when I'm with you" engraved in the bottom right corner. The picture was taken when we took the boys to Wendy's. In the picture I was posed with my fry in my frosty, and Edward was looking at it in disgust. I loved our facial expressions in it and the quote suited us perfectly.

"What do you think?" I asked softly after a few minutes of Edward just staring at it.

He shot his head up at the sound of my voice, "I love you Bella."

"Well I already knew that, but what about the present?" I joked.

"Yes that too." He said quickly before crashing his lips to mine.

I don't know if it was because of the holiday season or the fact that he basically told me he was mine for forever with the necklace, but that kiss felt so much sweeter and meaningful than ever before.

We pulled away and he gave me the happiest smile in the world and then pulled me in for a hug.

"That's not all, silly. There's still one more thing in there." I laughed.

"Oh." He laughed with me and reached his hand in again to pull out a shoebox.

He opened it up and inside was a pair of Nike LeBron James basketball shoes he had been talking about for weeks.

"No way!" he looked up at me and I just nodded.

I jumped out of his chair, quickly kissed me on the cheek an ran out of the room hollering, "EMMETT! JASPER! YOU'RE GONNA BE SOO JEALOUS!"

I just laughed and walked out to the hallway and found Rose and Alice walking out of Renee and Charlie's office and the kitchen.

Once we saw each other we met in the middle of the hallway squealing about how great our boyfriends are. Jasper got Alice a charm bracelet with a 'J', and 'A', a heart, a shoe, a pair of lips, and a square charm that said "You're everything I've ever wanted."

We all squealed when we saw Rosalie's present. Emmett had gotten her a silver promise ring with a small diamond in the middle and "Rosie, you're stuck with me for life." engraved around the inside. I didn't know whether to laugh at what he decided to have engraved on it, or cry because it was so sweet.

"I thought he was going to propose! He had gotten down on one knee and everything! Then Morgan walked in and thought we were playing a game. So now she's engaged to Emmett." Rosalie snickered.

"What did the guys think of their present's?" Alice asked.

She had helped us pick out our presents for the guys, because I wanted to get him something that actually meant something, not just the shoes. Plus, Rose was so stressed over what she was going to get Emmett, so we all went shopping together a couple days ago and that's when we found the picture frame and Emmett's gift.

"Emmett actually liked the shirt just as much, if not more than the ring." Rosalie chuckled shaking her head.

We found a store that made shirts, so Rose got Emmett a shirt that said "I Love RH", like one of those "I Love NY" shirts as the funny part of her gift, and then also got him a promise ring, but in titanium, that had "When you wear this, think of me." engraved on the inside.

"I'm sure you heard he liked the shoes from all the yelling, and he must have really liked the picture because he sat there staring at it and then gave me the best kiss in the world…" I said dreamily.

"Awwww!" Alice and Rose said together.

"What about Jasper?" I asked Alice.

Alice had gotten Jasper a collection of war movies he had been asking for, and cologne she said the smell reminded her of him called "Sex Appeal." She thought it was too funny to pass up and it really did smell good.

She started giggling, "He loved the movies and when he read the name of the cologne he sprayed it on himself and asked me if it was sexually appealing to me."

"What did you say?!" Rosalie laughed.

"I said yes of course! And then well…I won't go into detail…" she started to blush.

I groaned jokingly, "Aliceeee! You didn't make out all over my kitchen did you?"

She just rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at me.

I heard the doorbell ring, which officially meant guests were starting to arrive. Being the good daughter that I was, I had to go and greet everyone with my parents. I could hear my mother reminding me now as I complained about having to talk to everyone, "Remember Isabella, we have to be good hosts. We don't want people thinking they're unwelcome."

I groaned and went to find Edward. If I had to talk to everyone, he was going to keep me company while I do it.

I found the boys in the living room. Jasper had convinced Charlie to let him pop in one of his new war movies, Emmett was following Morgan around calling her 'dear', and Edward was trying on his new shoes while Aaron, Alex, and Jack watched.

I leaned against the doorway and listened to their conversation.

"You play basketball?" The twins asked.

Edward nodded as he finished lacing up the shoes.

"Who got you those?" Jack asked this time.

"My girlfriend." He replied smiling at them.

"Ewww!" They all had disgusted faces.

Edward chuckled, "Believe me, I used to feel that way too."

"What changed your mind?" Aaron questioned.

"I met someone who I really, really liked a lot. And I realized that I want to spend as much time with her as I can and never want to be without her."

"And because they buy you cool shoes, right?" Alex nudged him and nodded.

"Right, that too." Edward laughed.

"So who is she?" Jack asked.

I didn't know Edward knew I was watching, but he must have because he lifted his finger and pointed in my direction.

"Belly?!?" They all gasped.

"Yup." He said popping the 'p'.

He walked over and laced his fingers in mine.

"Kiss her! Kiss her!" they chanted.

Edward leaned in and gave me a quick peck on the cheek. The boys covered their mouths and giggled, whispering something to each other.

"I can't believe you did it!" Jack exclaimed, still giggling.

Edward and I just laughed and then I pulled him over to the front door with me where I had to greet people.

-:-:-

After saying hello to everyone at the party, I was finally able to enjoy it. Almost everyone from our grade and their parents were there, along with a few seniors and sophomores' families we knew.

Of course, this meant Jonathan was there along with his annoying brother Mike and his girlfriend Jessica. They didn't bug us though. Every time Jonathan saw me he would cover his _area_ and involuntarily shiver. We got a few good laughs out of that.

But, I was most surprised when Tanya walked into my house. Apparently my mother felt that even though Tanya and I 'had our differences' she still considered our families to be on good terms and that they deserved to be invited.

Now, it was Edward and I under the same roof with the two people who tried to keep us apart _and_ their mini-me's. Great.

We tried to avoid them as much as possible by talking to Grandma Swan. No one messes with someone when they're talking to their grandparent's right?

"So how long have you been dating my Bella?" Grams was going in on full interrogation mode with Edward.

"Uhm…about two months…I-I would say. Right Bells?" he squeaked.

I just nodded, because if I opened my mouth I'd be afraid of laughing at him. He's so nervous and tense.

"How did you meet? I want details son, not the abridged version." She said while patting his knee.

Edward went into the whole kissing booth story and when he got around to the formal I secretly told him with my eyes to not talk about the Tanya thing, then he finished with the night outside my house when he texted me, asking to be his girlfriend.

"So you couldn't ask her in person?" Grandma accused, thinking Edward wasn't even in the same zip code as me when he sent the message.

Edward started to break out into sweat, so I decided to save him.

"No, not at all Grandma. Edward was standing right in front of me when he sent the text." I tried to explain.

"I don't get it." She said while still staring at Edward.

"Remember when Edward told you about Rosalie giving him my number?" she nodded, "Well it was kind of funny, in that we got to know each other first, by talking on the phone, and then he asked me out _over_ the phone. Get it?" I waited for her to say something.

"Ohhhhhh! Very clever Eddie." Grams laughed. I saw Edward involuntarily cringe at the nickname, but luckily she didn't notice.

She looked down and saw that Edward still had on the basketball shoes I had gotten him, "That's an interesting choice of…footwear."

Edward chuckled, "Well they were a gift I opened earlier and I was too excited about them to take them off after I tried them on. I guess I just forgot I was wearing them."

"Oh? Who are they from?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Bella." He stated simply.

"And what did _you_ get Bella?" she asked skeptically.

I saw Edward tense up again, "He got me this necklace. Isn't it beautiful?" I chimed in while moving to sit by Grams so she could see it.

"Oh, wow. That is really pretty." She said while appraising the heart around my neck. "Good work son." She smiled at Edward.

I saw him let out a breath and figured he needed a break from my over-protective grandmother, so I told Grams we'd see her later and went to find our other friends.

"I thought Charlie was scary, but man! Your grandmother must have taught Charlie all he knows!" He said as soon as we left the room.

I just giggled and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "You did good. She likes you."

"I hope so…" he sighed. "Grams is not someone I would want on my bad side. Her and Rose must get along pretty well huh?" he joked.

I just laughed and nodded. It was probably true. Actually, I'm pretty sure Rose was secretly Grams' favorite out of all my friends…

We found most of the teenagers at the party camped out in the kitchen finishing off the cookie trays.

Before I realized who else was in the room, Tanya came waltzing up. She was able to come because of her Christmas break at the reform school.

"Hey Edward, Bella." She said a little too nicely.

"Tanya…" Edward greeted her cautiously.

"Listen…I wanted to a-apologize, for everything." She hesitated, and I figured it would be hard for her to be nice to me, so I wasn't surprised.

"I didn't really mean to push you down all those stairs. I just thought you might fall down one and get a bad bruise or something. I never imagined you would get knocked out. Well, I guess I didn't really think about too much when I pushed you anyways, but I'm still sorry."

"Uhm…thanks. I appreciate it." I said as nicely as I could.

"But! I am not sorry for trying to get Edward back. I still believe you don't deserve him and I still don't understand why he hasn't realized that himself...yet."

_Just when I thought she could actually have a heart…_

I could tell Edward was getting angry with her, so I tried rubbing circles with my thumb on the back of his hand to calm him down.

"Well that's your opinion Tanya, and I'm sure if Edward _did_ feel that way, he would have broken up with me a long, long time ago for you. But he hasn't. So get over it, he doesn't like you." I said dryly.

With that we walked away.

Emmett had heard the whole thing and was calling after Tanya who was gathering her things to leave, "OHHH SNAP! SHE GOT YOU THERE TANYA! NOW LEAVE MY MAN EDDIE ALONE!"

She huffed and stomped out of the kitchen to find her parents.

"Was that really necessary?" I asked Emmett, laughing.

"Yes it was. I couldn't let you act like the bigger person and not have any fun with getting Tanya mad, now could I?" he snickered.

"Of course not." I smiled and rolled my eyes.

-:-:-

The party started to die down around nine thirty, when parents had to get their younger kids to bed so Santa could come and the older people were getting tired.

Soon, it was just my family, the Cullen's, the Hale's, and the Brandon's left, who offered to help clean up.

The six of us helped get my younger cousins ready for bed since they were staying at my house. The boys idolized Edward and it made me happy to see him getting along with my family and them liking him so much. Morgan clung to Emmett, her 'fiancé', the entire time and made him read her a bedtime story while Jasper and Rosalie acted it out as Emmett read it. Samantha decided she wanted to stay up and watch a movie with me after everyone left so Alice helped her set that up.

After the younger kids went to bed, The Brandon's and Hale's decided to go home, so I said goodbye to Alice and Rose and made plans for our pedicures before New Years came around.

It was just Emmett, Jasper, Edward, Samantha, and I sitting in the living room. Emmett and Jasper were past out on the couch with their empty mugs, that once had eggnog in them, still clutched in their hands. Samantha had fallen asleep on my lap, but made me promise to wake her up when it was time to start the movie. I had my head rested on Edward's shoulder as he played with my hair and hummed a few Christmas songs.

I was perfectly content until Esme and Carlisle walked in.

"We have to get going Edward." Carlisle whispered while Esme shook Emmett and Jasper awake.

"Are you sure about that Carlisle? I mean you guys can _totally_ stay here and spend Christmas morning with us." I tried to convince him.

"Sorry Bella, but Santa won't know where the boys are if we're not at our house." he joked.

"I don't want any presents from Santa, I have everything I need right here." Edward argued sleepily.

"Come on, Edward. I'm sure you'll find a way to see Bella tomorrow." Esme smiled.

"Fine…" we both sighed together.

I stood up, careful not to wake Samantha and walked Edward to the door with my arms around his waist.

"We'll be waiting in the car. Don't make it a long goodbye, its cold outside!" Esme laughed.

Edward turned towards me and rested his forehead against mine. "I'll call you when I get home?" he smiled crookedly.

"I'll be waiting." I said before giving him his goodbye kiss.

As he reached for the doorknob, Grams came walking up.

"I just wanted you to know that you have the Grams' seal of approval. Don't let anyone else tell you any different, mine is the only opinion that counts. You're a good kid son, and perfect for my grandbaby." She smiled and gave us both a hug.

"Thank you…ugh Ms. Swan? Grandma Swan?" Edward asked undecidedly.

"Call me Grams, all the grandchildren do…or should I say grandchildren and _future_ grandchildren?" she smirked and walked away.

"I told you she like you!" I grinned.

He was so excited and gave me a hug. Not just any hug though, the kind where my feet left the ground and he spun me around.

He set me down and his eyes bore into mine. "Merry Christmas Bella. You know I meant it when I said I had everything I needed right?"

"Yes, I did. Merry Christmas Edward."

He snuck in one more quick kiss before sprinting to the car.

**A/N: I love Christmas time :)**

**Pictures of the presents will be up on my profile!**

**My favorite parts would probably be when Bella and Edward are arguing with Carlisle to stay for Christmas morning and the entire gift exchange between the six :)**

**Yours?**

**Please Review!! :)**

**LOVE YOU!**

**P.S. Only two more chapters and an epilogue :(**

**Emeleigh;; (lol i figured it was time you knew my real name :P)**


	27. How to Annoy Your Girlfriend

**A/N: Heyy!**

**I wasn't going to do a new year's chapter but SOMEONE (you know who you are) convinced me to write one and then I thought of a really funny idea and couldn't resist :P**

**So since last chapter was all Bella's POV I decided to make the New Year's chapter all Edward's POV :)**

**Here we go!**

EPOV

"Are you just going to sit on your but all day or are you going to help?" A very annoyed Alice asked me as she tapped her foot repeatedly.

It was December 31 around eleven o'clock in the morning. Tonight, my parents were hosting a New Years 'bash', as they liked to call it, for the hospital and a few close friends. Esme had somehow roped my brothers, our girlfriends, and myself into decorating.

And Alice was in charge.

I had been sitting on the floor watching Bella string rope lights along the ceiling for a good fifteen minutes now.

I was _supposed_ to be unboxing all the noisemakers my mother ordered.

"You know, Alice, the party doesn't start for another…" I counted it up in my head, "ten hours. I think we have more than enough time for a break every now and then…" I smiled up at her from my spot on the floor.

"Exactly! _Only_ ten hours to get this place ready to bring in the New Year! Now, get off your butt, quit staring at my friend, and get to work!"

I saw Bella blush and inwadly smirked.

"Fine…I'm going, I'm going." I sighed as I got to my feet. "But…"

I ran over to Bella where she was balancing on a chair taping up the last of the lights, "Not without Bella!" I boomed as I flung her over my shoulder and ran away before Alice could say anything.

When we got to the kitchen, I set her on the counter in front of me.

"You sure know how to make an exit…" Bella breathed out.

"Well I wasn't going to try and decorate all by myself." I smiled crookedly at her.

"Of course not." She snickered.

Bella decided on helping me set up the party favors for all the guests. Esme had gotten a little too excited while looking through an Oriental Trading catalog and purchased everything that made noise. We had our work cut out for us.

We were in the middle of unpacking an order of "poppers", you know the white ball-things you throw on the ground and they pop, when Bella accidentally dropped a few.

"Ahh!" she squealed as they landed all around her bare feet.

_Pop!_

_Pop…pop!_

She stumbled over towards the counter and jumped on top of it, dropping even more.

_Pop…pop…pop-pop-pop-pop!_

Everyone came rushing into the room with frantic looks.

"What is going on in here?" Rosalie asked exasperated.

"Oh nothing." I smiled while the others started taking in their surroundings.

Bella just smiled meekly at everyone and silently walked over to get a broom.

"Attack of the poppers, huh?" Emmett laughed.

Bella just blushed and continued to clean up the mess she made.

"That's it! You two are not allowed to be in the same room until the party starts. Honestly, have you gotten _anything_ done?" Alice snickered and then glared at us.

"Yeah…we unpacked most of the party favors…" I shrugged.

"Well maybe you should assign Bella to something else, seeing as she's a hazard when handling these things." Jasper teased.

"Like you're any better!" Rosalie turned towards him, "You were just having your own problems if I do recall…"

"What happened?" I asked.

"Well Mr. Fix-It over here thought he could repair a strand of lights that had some of the bulbs burnt out. He reached up to use the shunt on a couple of the bulbs to see if that would work and he ripped down all the strands Bella just finished hanging up!"

Bella let out a gasp and focused her anger on Jasper.

Rosalie continued before she had a chance to yell at him, "That's not all. Then 'Helpful Emmett' tried to help Jazz fix them before Alice got back. They couldn't figure out how Bella taped them up before so you know what they did? Duck-taped them! You should come see guys, they look horrible!"

"_My_ lights?! You ruined _my lights_?! Do you have any idea how long that it took me?!" Bella ranted.

"Well…we didn't mess up all of them…just half." Emmett tried to calm her down.

Alice and Rosalie started pulling Bella out of the room so she could see the damage for herself, so naturally us boys followed. Once the girls saw we were coming too, Bella turned around.

"Oh no. You boys are not allowed any where near the lights!"

"But what about me? I didn't do anything." I slightly pouted.

"No, but you're related to them so you might have the same idiotic tendencies." She joked.

With that, all three of them flipped back around and strutted to the living room.

"Nice going!" I accused my brothers.

"Aww, poor Eddie. Do you miss Bella already?" Emmett put on a fake sad face.

I just looked at them and went back to unpacking the rest of the boxes.

"That's definitely a yes, he's just too afraid to admit it." Jasper whispered loud enough for me to hear.

-:-:-

Emmett and Jazz helped me finish setting up the party favors and we decided the girls had probably cooled off by now, so we went to the living room.

"No Rose, I promise you the pink will look better!" I heard Alice argue.

"No! You only want pink because that's your favorite color! Red is the way to go!" Rosalie snapped back.

Jasper held up his arm to stop us from walking in, probably too scared to face the wrath of both girls.

I wasn't disagreeing with him though.

I had no idea what they were fighting about, but it didn't seem like either of them were planning on backing out anytime soon.

"Esme put _me_ in charge! Meaning she trusts my judgment, _meaning_ she would want pink!"

"Oh please!" Rose scoffed.

"We're using pink!" Alice commanded.

"No, red!"

"Pink!"

"Red!"

"PINK!"

"RED!"

"BELLA!!" The both shrieked at the same time.

"What?!" she mocked back in the same tone they used.

"Which do you think is better, pink or red?" Rose asked calmly now.

"For the streamers?" She asked confused.

"Yes." They said together again.

"Well what colors have you already used?"

"Blue, green, orange, purple, and yellow." Alice stated matter-of-factly.

"Well…if you wanted to do all the colors of the rainbow, then I would use red." I could practically see Alice fuming from Bella's choice.

"But!" She added quickly, "Why can't you just use both?"

"Huh. I guess we could." Rosalie realized.

"Fine…!" Alice huffed. "But when people come up to me and ask why the heck we used red streamers I'm blaming you two!" She was joking now, which was a good sign.

Jasper gave us the okay sign to proceed into the living room. When we walked in I heard Emmett let out a "Wooowwww!"

"Looks way better than before doesn't it?" Bella smirked.

Jasper just nodded sheepishly.

We helped the girls put the finishing touches around the room and we finally finished around four o'clock.

Alice even took pictures of all the rooms we decorated, she was so proud.

"Alright troops! Meet back here at 0800 hours!" Alice ordered.

"Well what are we supposed to do until then?" Bella asked, noticing that we still had five hours until the party started.

"_We_ are going to start getting ready at my house." Alice told her, making it very clear the "we" did not include us boys.

"You need that long to get ready?!" Emmett's jaw dropped.

"Perfection takes time." Rosalie smirked.

"And we need some much needed girl time, seeing as we have been forced to be around you boys all day!" Bella giggled.

"Are you complaining? Because I know _plenty_ of girls that wouldn't mind spending the day with me." I whispered in her ear.

I pulled out my phone and scrolled through my contacts.

"Let's see, there's Abigail, Emily, Stacy…" I looked down at her with the biggest smirk on my face.

"Well I would go with Emily. She's been drooling all over you since your first day at school." Bella smiled sweetly at me and then started to walk away.

"Alright, I'm calling!" I bluffed as I yelled to her retreating form.

"Okay, see you tonight! I want to hear all about your day with Emily when I get back." She laughed and walked out the door.

I watched out the window as they all piled into Rosalie's car. Bella saw me and blew me a kiss as they sped off. I was kind of regretting my little game because I had missed my opportunity for a goodbye kiss before she left.

"Eddie, Eddie, Eddie. When will you ever learn?" Emmett asked while shaking his head.

"Rule #1: Never bring up wanting to hang out with other girls." Jasper chuckled.

"I realize that now." I replied dryly.

"So since the girls are having 'girl time' what do you day we have our own brother time?" Emmett asked.

"What exactly happens during 'brother time'?" Jasper looked up at him.

"Not exactly sure…" he said while rubbing his chin, "Let's google it!"

That's how we ended up huddled around the computer screen hysterically laughing.

Somehow, I'm not even sure how, we switched from looking up 'things to do with your brothers,' to 'ways to annoy your girlfriend.'

I'm almost positive it was Emmett's idea.

We looked through thousands of websites, but the funniest one we found was the '15 ways to annoy your girlfriend.'

They are as follows:

_1. Lick her nose. When she tells you to stop, promise her you will, but then do it anyway. Its okay, you only told a little white lie._

_2. Come up with silly nicknames like 'Schnookums' or 'My Little Powder Puff.'_

_3. Say, "Oh my god! I have a great idea!" Get excited. When she asks what it is tell her it's a secret. For added effect tell her to hold on while you go share your 'great idea' with someone else._

_4. Simply state, "You're looking prime tonight."_

_5. Answer any question she has asking 'why' with "It's just magic, honey."_

_6. Answer any question she has asking 'how' with "Very carefully."_

_7. Whatever she's trying to do, tell her she's doing it wrong. Then proceed to show her how a man does it better._

_8. Every time she comes back, whether she just left the room for a short time or you haven't seen her for days, yell "Hooray! You're back!" and clap your hands together._

_9. Whenever she's talking to her friends, join in and in your most girlish voice, state your opinion in their conversation._

_10. Become your own twin brother and proceed to tell her you two never appear in the same place at the same time. Leave and come back as the other twin._

_11. Sing along with her favorite songs, but make up your own words._

_12. Frequently ask her if you're being annoying._

_13. Reply to everything she says with "That's what you think."_

_14. Make sound effects._

_15. As much as possible, skip rather than walk._

"Dude! We have to do this tonight!" Emmett said after he finished reading through them. "It'll be fun! Whoever gets yelled at last wins."

"What do we win?" Jasper asked, clearly interested with where this was going.

"Uhh…the joy of seeing the other two get yelled at before you?"

"I'm in!" Jasper cheered.

They both turned to me.

"What'll it be Ed-Man?" Emmett smirked.

I thought about it for a few seconds. _Of course it would be funny as hell, but I already lost the chance to kiss her goodbye earlier because of the stupid game I was playing, so I didn't wanna risk losing my New Year's kiss_

_Eh, who cares? Bella has a sense of humor._

_Right?_

_Plus, Jasper and I both know Emmett will be out first. Rose has the least amount of patience. And Alice is so worked up with wanting the decorations to stay looking perfect at the party that she won't want to deal with an annoying Jasper._

_I got this in the bag._

"Count me in." I agreed.

"Right on!" Emmett pounded fists with Jasper and me, and then printed out a list for each of us.

Just then, Esme came in and told us we better go get ready since everybody would be arriving soon.

I grabbed my list and marched upstairs. On my bed I saw an outfit laid out with a note on top.

_This is what you're wearing to the New Years Party._

_If you do not have this on when I get there I will make you go change Edward!_

_Love, Alice :)_

I shook my head, _how did sneak up here and go through my closet without me even knowing?_

I almost thought about going against her wishes, just to get her extra irritated so Jazz might get out of the competition faster, but decided against it. Knowing Alice, she would call Jasper ahead of time just to make sure we were all wearing what she picked out.

"Jasper! You're girlfriend is ridiculous!" I heard Emmett holler from his room.

"Well, you better wear it anyways because she just called and told me to make sure you do as the note says! You too Edward!" _Who called it?_

-:-:-

The girls arrived a half-hour before the party started with their parents.

I noticed when they walked in that Bella and my outfit's were perfectly color coordinated, as were Jasper and Alice and Emmett and Rose.

_This had Alice written all over it._

Bella looked amazing. She was wearing the dress Alice had gotten here for Christmas and the necklace I had given her. Come to think of it, I hadn't seen her without it on since Christmas Eve.

I almost decided to back out of the competition right then and there. All I wanted to do tonight was be with her.

But, I chose to stay in when she came up to me.

"So, how's Emily?"

"Good. How was your girl time?"

"Good."

It was a little but of an awkward silence after that, but I decided to turn on the annoyance.

"My, aren't you looking prime tonight?"

She snorted, "_Prime_, Edward?"

"Oh sorry, does that word annoy you?" I asked sincerely.

_Yes! Two in a row!_

"No…just wondering when you learned that word…" she snickered.

"Just recently, Schnookums."

_I am on a roll!_

"Are you okay Edward?" she looked a little worried, but still amused.

"I'm fine." I replied casually.

"Alright…well, I'm going to go set my coat in your room. I'll be right back." She started making her way to the stairs.

"Okay, I'll be waiting here sugar lips." I had to hold in a laugh for that one.

She turned around and gave me a puzzling look, but then continued to my room.

Emmett and Jasper walked up after she left.

"So how's it going?" Jasper asked curiously.

"She has no idea what's gotten into me." I chuckled remembering her 'what-is-wrong-with-you?' look.

"Well, Alice thought I wasn't feeling well after I tried to convince her I had a twin brother."

"Rosalie is already irritated with my sound effects. Especially the time I made a farting noise when she sat down." Emmett said trying hard not to burst out laughing.

"Shh!" Jasper quickly covered Emmett's mouth with his hand when we heard Bella coming back downstairs.

"Horrayyyy!! Bella's back! I missed you, my little powder puff!" I cheered.

That almost did it for Emmett. Luckily, Jasper still had his had over his mouth.

"Uhm…thanks?" she looked at me with the same funny look.

"Oh, sorry is that annoying?" I asked, hopefully with a worried look on my face.

"Not really, just very…enthusiastic…"

With that, Emmett had to leave the room.

-:-:-

My brothers and I continued with our little game, obviously annoying the girls.

It was a little harder to slip in some of the louder tasks, like sound effects, and getting excited when she came back in the room, because of all the partiers that had arrived.

It was all adults except for the six of us, so we retreated to the kitchen where there wasn't too much action or slightly tipsy nurses.

We could still hear the commotion from the living room, especially the music.

I could see the girls throwing looks at each other when we started making up our own words to every song.

"Cause this is New Yearsss! New Years night! And no one's keeping me from kissing Rosie to-night! You know its New Years! New Years night! I'm waiting for midnight to kiss Rosie later to-nighhhhhhhht!" Emmett belted out his version of "Thriller".

Jasper and I tried making up our own lyrics but we couldn't breath, due to Emmett's wonderful performance.

Rosalie wasn't amused though.

"Emmett! Honestly, what has gotten into you tonight?! Did you chug an entire case of energy drinks before I got here or what??" she yelled and stomped out of the room.

_One down, one left to go._

"Rosie, no! I only had one energy drink before you came. Why? Does that annoy you?" he skipped after her.

I heard Jasper let out a "Pffffft!" noise followed by his howling laughter.

After we calmed down a bit we bumped fists and gave the other a "bring it on" look.

It was about and hour until the New Year so there wouldn't be much longer until I could act normal around Bella again. And to be honest, I was getting tired of the game; it was actually a lot of work.

We were still in the kitchen, but Alice and Jasper were sitting at the table talking while Bella sat on the counter where I had set her earlier when I kidnapped her.

"Why are you acting so weird Edward?" she asked, honestly curious.

"It's just magic, honey." I shrugged, using a line from the rules.

"That's exactly what I'm talking about. You're just not acting like yourself tonight." She sighed.

I almost told her right then, but we were so close to midnight, that I didn't want to back out now. So instead I told her, "That's what you think."

"Alright…I'm gonna go talk to Alice…"

She hopped off the counter and took Jasper's place at the table as he came to stand by me.

"How is she holding up?" Jasper asked.

"I don't know, she seems more sad than annoyed…" I told him as I watched her talk to Alice.

"Well, Alice is just plain irritated! I think she's going to crack soon." He snickered.

I saw Jasper look from me, to Bella, and back again. I knew my face was worried, but I didn't even care. I hoped Bella wasn't getting the wrong idea from our stupid game.

Then, Jasper skipped over to Alice and Bella.

In the highest pitch I've ever heard escape Jasper's mouth he asked, "So what we talking about ladies?"

Alice turned to him, and I instantly thought of the phrase 'if looks could kill', "Ugh! Jazzy, what is with your new behavior?! Because quite frankly, I don't like it! At all!"

Jasper was out. I won.

He didn't reply, but scooped her up in his arms and fleeted from the room.

Bella just sat there staring at the table. _I_ just stood there staring at Bella.

"Are you trying to push me away? Do you want to break up with me? Is that it?" Bella asked sadly.

"God no!" I said quickly and rushed to her side.

"Well then I don't understand why you're acting this way."

"It was a game." I just came out and said it.

"Excuse me?"

I pulled out the list from my pocket and unfolded it. "Emmett thought since you were having 'girl time', that we should have 'brother time.' During that time we ended up googling 'how to annoy your girlfriend', and we found this list."

She didn't say anything, so I continued to talk.

"Emmett thought it would be funny if we saw who could get yelled at last. As you probably figured out by now…I kind of...won." I said softly.

She read over the paper and looked up at me.

"So…you thought this would be…_funny_?"

"At first, yes. But I never thought you would react this way. I thought you would see Emmett and Jasper acting the same way and think it was funny."

"Well, you were wrong." She said flatly.

"Yes, I see that now, and I'm so sorry Bella. I just-" she placed a finger over my lips and smiled.

"You didn't let me finish. I _did_ notice Emmett and Jasper acting the same, but I didn't find it funny…I decided to get even."

"What?" I had no idea what was going on anymore.

"Did you feel bad for purposefully annoying me?"

"Yes…"

"Well then my job here is done." She giggled and got out of her seat.

"Wait." I grabbed her wrist, "So you're telling me that you _purposefully_ made me feel guilty for agreeing to this stupid game?"

"Exactly." She said sweetly and walked out.

I stood there staring at the doorway where she just exited for a moment, and then went to find her.

She was sitting on the staircase with the others and telling Alice and Rose all about my reaction.

Jasper and Emmett were sitting on the opposite end of the stairs, silently.

"Got you guys too, huh?" I sighed and sat down beside them.

"Yeah, apparently they found out what we were doing _hours_ ago." Emmett huffed.

"This was not one of your greatest ideas Em, I've got to say…" Jasper groaned.

"Why are you blaming me??" he actually seemed shocked.

"Emmett, it was your idea!" I said, hitting him on the back of the head.

"Ow! Watch it, that spot is tender! Rose already got me there like ten times…" he grumbled.

"So, what do you boys have anything to say for yourselves?" Alice quirked an eyebrow at us.

"Sorry…" we all apologized together.

The girls all nodded and then turned back to each other in a huddle-like fashion.

They turned back around and using Alice as their spokesperson said, "Okay. We forgive you."

I immediately lunged at Bella and gave her the best hug I've ever given.

"Come on, let's try to salvage the rest of 2009…" she snickered and pulled me into the party room.

The others followed and we gathered in the corner where we could still see the TV that was playing "Dick Clark's New Years Rockin' Eve", but far enough away from any adults.

I snuck a peek at the clock, 11:59

We made it just in time.

I quickly spun Bella around so she was facing me, "Bella, I know I do a lot of stupid stuff, but I want you to know meeting you and being friends with you and dating you were never considered stupid in my book. I want to be with you forever. And even if I do something so stupid this coming year that makes you so horribly mad at me, remember I only do those things because I'm an idiot, and all you have to do is set me straight and I'll be the loveable Edward you know again."

She laughed, which was good.

"Edward, I know you do stupid stuff. But its ok, because I like to tell you how stupid your being so you can apologize." She teased.

The crowd started to count down, "10! 9! 8!"

"I love you, Isabella Swan."

"7! 6! 5! 4!"

"And I love you, Edward Cullen."

"3! 2! 1! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!"

I snaked my arms around Bella's waist and pulled her close. Her breath hitched and I smiled at her crookedly. Before I got the chance to initiate our first kiss of the New Year, Bella crashed her lips onto mine and I knew this was how I wanted to spend every year.

With Bella.

"WHOOOO!!! TWENTY-TEN BABY, HERE I COME!!!" I heard Emmett boom over the crowd.

_Way to ruin the moment dude, way to ruin the moment._

**A/N: Ah, Emmett...**

**So? Favorite Part?**

**Mine-****"WHOOOO!!! TWENTY-TEN BABY, HERE I COME!!!" I heard Emmett boom over the crowd.  
**_**Way to ruin the moment dude, way to ruin the moment.**_

**Next chapter they're back at school!**

****EXCITING NEWS****

**I was bored the other day so I made the very first banner for the sequel :)  
It will be on my profile!!**

**Until next time :)**

**LOVE YOU!**

**Emeleigh**


	28. Go home Edward

**A/N: Hey! :)**

**I know I suck at updating, I'm sorry.**

**But here it is!**

"What are you trying to say Bella?" Edward asked seriously, "That I suck?"

"Of course not! When did you ever hear me say that?" I defended.

"Well maybe you didn't exactly say it out loud, but I'm sure you were thinking it…"

"All I was _suggesting_, was that you should bend your knees a little more during free throws. _That's all_. At no point did I say or imply that you suck." I pointed out.

"I do bend my knees!!" he argued.

"I know! I said it might help to bend them more. Are you even listening to me?"

We were driving home after practice and I was just casually giving Edward a tip to improve his already amazing basketball skills and he took it the wrong way.

"Of course I'm listening!" he seemed annoyed.

"Then what did I just say?" I challenged, hoping to lighten the mood a little…

"To sum it all up, you basically said my free throws suck."

I groaned dramatically and let my head fall on the seat's headrest. "Your impossible."

He just huffed as we pulled up to my house. I sat there with my eyes closed, not noticing when Edward got out and came around to open my door.

He cleared his throat and my eyes shot open. I could definitely tell now that our little argument in the car made him annoyed with me.

I silently got out of the car and he walked me to my door. Even though we were in the middle of a little 'fight', if you could even call it that, I didn't want him leaving me just yet.

"I never said you sucked Edward." I said softly, but sternly.

He ran a hand through his hair and then leaned over to give me a kiss on the cheek. "I know…"

"So…are you gonna go home or do you want to stay for a little bit?" I asked carefully.

"You know I want to stay Bella." A small smile played at the corners of his lips.

"So…you're not mad at me?"

"I never was, I'm just so stressed from all the pressure coach is putting on us for tournaments and school and…ugh I'm sorry." He sighed, resting his head on my shoulder.

My hands absentmindedly ran through his hair and I heard him sigh again, "It's okay, I know it's stressful, but how about I take your mind off of things?"

I felt him nod, and we made our way inside. Seeing that no one was home, we grabbed as many pillows and blankets that we could find, piled them on the couch, snuggled in, and popped in "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days."

"That's just creepy…" Edward commented as Kate Hudson showed Matthew McConoughey their 'family album.'

"That's the point Edward." I laughed.

"Really?" he asked.

"Yes, she's trying to get the guy to dump her in 10 days."

"Oh, so she's doing all this on purpose?"

"Yes!" I laughed again.

"But wait…isn't the guy trying to get her to fall in love with him in 10 days?" he asked, slowly putting the pieces together.

"That's what the movie is about." I answered his question, biting back yet another laugh.

"Ohh! I get it now. That's kind of funny actually…" he chuckled.

I just shook my head and focused back on the movie.

Right as the credits started rolling, Renee walked in. "Hey kids! Edward, we're having chicken for supper tonight, would you like to stay?"

"I love chicken!" he called to her as she rummaged around in the kitchen.

"Well I'll take that as a yes then." Renee snickered.

After dinner, I reluctantly led Edward to his car to say goodnight. "You don't really have to leave do you?" I pouted.

"Unfortunately I do. I don't think our parents would be too wild about the idea of a sleepover in your room."

"Your parents and Renee wouldn't mind, it'd be Charlie we would have to convince." I joked.

"True." He smirked.

I latched my arms around his neck and he pulled me tighter into his chest. "Don't go." I whispered.

"Bella your making it entirely too hard for me to leave." He groaned.

"That's the point."

"Bella…" he sighed.

"Edward…" I mocked.

"You have to let go so I can go home."

"No, if you want to go home you'll just have to take me with you because I am _not_ moving." I said confidently.

He chuckled and just held me for a few moments until…"Okay I really do need to go home now. Esme is going to call Renee any second now wondering what's taking so long."

"Ugh, fine. But my plan would have worked!"

"Sure, sure. No one would have asked any questions when I walked inside carrying you." He said sarcastically.

"No they wouldn't have because they would be totally confused as to why I was there in the first place." I laughed.

"Well we'll just have to try it out some other time then…" he whispered, inching closer and closer to me with each word.

Just as our lips brushed against each other's…"Edward? Are you still here?! Bella let the poor boy go home! Esme just called because he was supposed to be home ten minutes ago!" Renee hollered at us from the front door.

"I told you." Edward smirked.

"Yeah, yeah. Just go home." I grumbled.

He climbed in the driver's seat and started the car. He started to back out of the driveway, but right before he reached the street the car halted to a stop and he jumped out.

"I almost forgot something." He jogged over with a crooked grin on his face.

"What?"

"This." He dipped his head down and captured my bottom lip between his. I was caught off guard at first, but then I realized Edward had come back to give me a kiss.

_Aw, how sweet is my boyfriend?_

We finally broke apart and I smiled up at him. Then Renee came back outside. "Edward, you go home right now or I will ground Bella!" she threatened.

"Mom, that is so unfair! It was Edward's fault, ground him!"

"Edward is not my child, however you are. And plus, it will punish both of you anyway seeing that you can't even spend a few measly hours away from each other."

"Goodnight Renee..." Edward laughed pulling my mother out of her rant.

"Goodnight Edward. Go home." She said before going back inside again.

"Go home before she really does ground me." I huffed.

"Bye." He said quickly and pecked my lips once more before driving off.

-:-:-

"Alright girls we have two days until tournaments. I think we can take first place this year, but I want you to know that no matter what we rank, I'm still proud of how far we've come. Now everyone go home and get a good night's rest. There will be no practice tomorrow, just as a thank you from me for working so hard this season." Our whole team burst into cheers at the thought of a running-free afternoon.

"But! I expect every one of you to come back Friday ready to work. Now go get showered, you smell!" Coach Clapp joked before retreating to her office.

"I don't know what I'll do with myself. We haven't had a free afternoon since…I don't know when exactly." Angela mused.

"I just hope the boys get tomorrow off too." I told her.

"Definitely."

I finished showering and headed over to the other gym to wait for Edward.

"Bella!" I turned around and saw Alice and Rosalie calling my name.

"What are you guys doing here so late?" School got out around three and practice didn't get finished until about six, sometimes six thirty, I had never seen Alice and Rosalie at the school after hours.

"Do you know how boring it is when eighty percent of your friends are at basketball practice? Of course not because you're one of them!" Rose huffed, answering her own question.

"Sorry?" It came out as more of a question. "But you don't have to worry because the season is over on Saturday, and Coach is giving us a day off tomorrow." I told them happily.

"Yay!" Alice squealed and pulled me into a hug, "I feel like I haven't hung out with you in forever!"

"Alice, we're with each other practically everyday."

"Yes, but that's just school it doesn't count. And on the weekends we all split off into couples." She pointed out.

"Wow." Rose and I said together.

_It really has been a while since I've had quality time with my best friends just hanging out, besides the holidays._

"Well then tomorrow we are having an official 'hang out' day." Rosalie declared.

"Yay!" I squealed with Alice.

"Why are you three so happy?" Jasper asked as he and his brothers exited the gym.

"Well Bella doesn't have practice tomorrow so we get to-" Alice started to explain but then got cut off by Emmett.

"Wait, wait, _wait_. The girls don't have practice tomorrow?"

"No…Coach Clapp is giving us a day off." I explained.

"What. The. Crap!" Emmett reared, chucking his bag on the ground.

"Oh calm down Em, you're making a scene." Rosalie scolded him.

"Sorry…" I said softly. I hadn't intended on making anyone mad.

"Don't worry about him. Emmett's just crabby because he got yelled at a lot today during practice." Edward told me as laced our fingers together.

"What'd he get yelled at for?"

"Making jokes when we were supposed to be working on our shooting and dribbling. He had all the guys laughing so obviously they weren't getting anything done and Coach got mad."

-:-:-

The bell rang, signaling the end of classes. I jumped out of my desk and rushed towards Edward's locker.

"Hey." I smiled.

"Hey…" he breathed and pulled me into a bone-crushing hug.

"Miss me?" I teased.

"Yes." He mumbled into the crook of my neck. "Mrs. Hart decided to give us assigned seats and guess who I sit in front of?"

"Who?" I wondered, I couldn't think of anyone that really bugged Edward except for Jonathan and Tanya. Jonathan wasn't in any of Edward's classes and Tanya went to a different school…

"Lauren Mallory." He said flatly and I giggled.

I had forgotten about her. Lauren was in our grade and she was a friend of Tanya's when she still went to Forks High. It was just recently though that she developed a crush of my Edward. My poor, poor Edward.

It happened at lunch when Lauren accidentally dropped her napkin and Edward, being the gentleman that he is, picked it up for her and then flashed her his heartbreaking smile. She then developed a 'school girl' crush on him, you know where she writes 'Lauren Cullen' all over the front of her notebook and had pictures of him in her locker. I found it absolutely hilarious, Edward wasn't even mildly amused.

"Bella this is not funny!" he argued, still clutching me against him as my giggling transformed into full on laughter.

"Oh…but Edward…it _so_ is!" I choked out between laughs.

He set me down and tried to look angry, "You try sitting in front of someone who you can feel staring at you and then whenever I say something she freaking sighs! What is up with that?! And I swear she tried to touch my hair!"

"Aw, poor baby. She didn't hurt you did she?"

A sly smile spread across his face, but he quickly masked it with a pout. "Actually I think she did. Can you kiss it better?"

"Of course." I was more than happy to oblige. "Where does it hurt?"

"Right here." He pointed to his left cheek and I placed a kiss on it, "And right here." He pointed to his right cheek and I placed a kiss there too.

"And here." he pointed to his lips before lifting my chin up so our lips could meet.

"Alright, enough with the PDA guys! We have to get to practice." Emmett grumbled.

"And we have a best friends day to attend to!" Alice said excitedly

-:-:-

After heading over to Wendy's (of course) and gossiping about all the rumors flying around school didn't know what we wanted to do next.

"Bella!" Rose yelled suddenly.

"Rose!" I mocked.

"What time do the boys' practice usually go to?"

"Around 6:15, after they've showered and everything. Why?"

She whipped her head around to look at the clock and then back to me, "We have exactly forty five minutes, so listen carefully." She beckoned us to come closer as we listened to her evil plan.

EPOV

"Five laps now!" Coach boomed at us right after we finished our one hundred crunches.

We found out at the beginning of practice that we were supposed to have today off like the girls, but since we were goofing around yesterday Coach decided to proceed with our regular schedule.

_Thanks a lot Emmett._

Then on top of that, we had an all-conditioning practice today as a punishment, like having it in the first place wasn't enough.

When I wasn't cursing Emmett in my head, I kept wondering what Bella was doing on her time off and that led to what we could be doing if I hadn't had practice, which then led to more cursing of Emmett.

_Stupid Emmett._

I finished my five laps, but when I thought I had a second to catch my breath…"50 pushups!"

_I. Hate. Emmett._

Finally practice was over and I practically had to have Jasper drag me back to the locker room since my legs turned into goo.

I showered, purposely squirted soap into Emmett's eye for revenge, and was ready to go home.

I walked out to the parking lot and saw Alice casually leaned against the side of the building.

"Hey Alice, are you waiting on Jasper? He'll be out in a minute."

"Oh okay…" she seemed a little fidgety, "So, Edward how was practice?"

"Horrible." I answered simply.

"Oh that's too bad. Did you get in trouble because of Emmett?"

"Yeah." Speak of the devil. Emmett and Jasper came out of the gym. Jasper was leading the way as Emmett held onto his shoulder with the hand that wasn't over his eye.

"Edward! What was with the eye poisoning back there?" he asked angrily.

"You can't poison your eye Emmett." I scoffed.

"I don't care, it still hurts." He spat back.

"You'll be fine."

Jasper noticed Alice was there and ran over to her, leaving a partially blind Emmett by himself. I didn't think it was too hard to see out of just one eye, but apparently for Emmett it is since he turned to walk towards his car but ended up smacking into the gym doors.

I doubled over in laughter and heard two higher pitched giggles from behind me.

I spun around and saw Bella and Rosalie hysterically laughing at Emmett with empty cardboard tubes in their arms.

Rosalie gasped when she realized I saw them and tried to haul a still giggling Bella away.

"Alice! We've been seen! Come on!" Rose yelled.

Alice quickly peeled herself off of Jasper and sprinted for Rosalie's car.

All the girls jumped in and sped off.

"That was…" I began.

"…Odd." Jasper finished for me.

"Can someone help me?!" Emmett growled from the ground. He must have fallen over after he ran into the wall.

We helped him up and made our way over to where the Jeep was parked, since we all rode together today.

Once we got closer I saw that there was something wrapped around the outside of it.

Plastic Wrap.

Oh my god, the girls freaking saran wrapped the Jeep.

"How the-?" Jasper asked.

"I'm guessing Alice was the decoy and Rosalie and Bella did the wrapping." I answered.

"What? What's going on? I can't see anything!" Emmett yelled at us.

"Use your good eye genius." I watched him open his 'un-poisoned' eye and magically be able to see.

"What happened?!" he yelled as soon as he saw the damage.

"The girls." Jasper answered him.

"This is going to take forever. They must have used at least ten rolls." Emmett groaned.

"Anybody have scissors?" I asked, as I started searching my bag for something to cut it off with.

"I have some!" Jasper squealed enthusiastically.

_Wow, hang around Alice much?_

I cut through the plastic wrap in no time and we headed over to Bella's house first, figuring that's where they were hiding.

They weren't there so we went to Alice's next. Not there either. We tried Rosalie last and sure enough, we saw her red convertible parked in front.

I handed the plastic wrap that was around the Jeep and a roll of tape to Jasper as we made our way to the front door.

I called Bella so I could have the girls come to the door when we were ready.

"Hello?" she asked sweetly.

"Hello." I said in a very business-like manner.

"Are you done with practice yet?"

"Bella, you just saw me. Remember? You were running away."

"Huh? _No_…I've been at Rose's house all afternoon." She replied innocently.

"Are you still at Rosalie's?"

"Yes…why?"

"Well Jasper, Emmett, and I are outside of Rose's house right now and we knocked but no one answered."

"Oh! Uhm…we didn't…hear you. Coming!" she said quickly before hanging up.

The door flung open revealing our three very shocked girlfriends.

We had taken the saran wrap and taped it around the Hales' door so there was no way of getting out the front door from the inside.

"Better luck next time girls." Emmett snickered as we all ran back to the Jeep.

"EMMETT CULLEN YOU GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!" Rosalie hollered as we drove away.

-:-:-

After our mini saran wrap war last night we all had a good laugh and came back to help the girls take it down before Rose's parents got home. Then we had another good laugh about Emmett's eye problems. It was a pretty funny night.

School was pretty uneventful, except for the fact that it was Friday and the school was buzzing about the tournament tomorrow.

We didn't know what practice would be today but Coach told us we would have a fairly easy since he didn't want anyone getting injured the day before we had to compete.

I walked into the gym and saw Bella sitting on the bleachers talking to Angela. I started walking over to her and she noticed when I was about half way there and ran over to me.

"Hey! Did you hear? We're scrimmaging with you guys today." She said excitedly.

"Really?"

"Really, really." She smiled.

"How are they splitting up teams?"

"Emmett and Ashley called captains so I guess they're just picking." She shrugged.

We got called over so the coaches could go over rules and _blah, blah, blah_. Then Emmett and Ashley went up to the front to pick their teams.

Emmett went first, "I get Bella! Mine!" he yelled quickly. Bella blushed and went to stand by him.

They went back and forth until no one was left. I was a little mad that I didn't get on Emmett's team. He had Bella, Angela, and Jasper along with some other good girls' and boys' players.

Our team wasn't that good, considering Ashley only picked her friends and guys she liked. Bella snorted when I was picked first for her team. But Ben Cheney got on my team so at least we actually had one other person who knew what they were doing.

Ben and Jasper tipped off and Ben immediately got possession of the ball. He dribbled down court and lined up for a shot when out of nowhere Angela swooped by and stole it, taking it to the other side of the court.

We kept running up and down the court making shots and switching between who was in the lead. When it was our turn to sit out, Ben formed a plan. He was going to guard Bella and I would guard Angela, then we would switch to throw them off…hopefully.

We were called back into the game and I immediately blocked Angela off as Jasper tried to throw her the ball. We played like this for a little bit before I got 'the nod' from Ben and we switched right as Bella got possession of the ball.

"Hey." I breathed out. I hoped it sounded more distracting than just gasping for air.

"Don't." she said quickly. I flashed her her favorite crooked grin of mine and she rolled her eyes.

She was on to me and our plan definitely didn't interfere with her playing ability because as I was keeping her from passing the ball to any other teammates she couldn't find anyone open and just decided to shoot from where she was standing. Which I might add was well past the free throw line. She sunk it and winked at me before heading down to the other end of the court.

I had to admit, my girlfriend had some serious skills.

Inevitably, our team lost and we were free to go after our cool-down run.

"Good game." Bella nudged me.

"You too." I nudged back.

"_Eww!_ Don't rub your sweat all over me!" She complained.

"You're all sweaty too."

"Yeah but girl sweat is different than guy sweat. It doesn't smell as bad."

"Oh please. Girls smell just as bad as guys after they sweat."

"Not true. Angela?" she called over her shoulder where Angela and Ben were walking behind us.

"She's right. Girls just don't stink like guys do." She shrugged.

"I find that hard to believe. Sweat is sweat." I said wiping the perspiration off of my forehead and onto her arm.

"Edward!"

"Okay, let's settle this. Come here." I said motioning for her to stand beside me along with Ben and Angela.

"Emmett! Jasper! I need your help!" I called over to my brothers.

"Ya?" Jasper asked.

"I need you to smell all four of us, the girls first, then Ben and me." I explained.

"No way man." Jasper said shaking his head.

"I'll do it." Emmett said casually.

"Okay, now smell Bella and Angela." He did, "What do they smell like?"

"Well Bella smells like sweat covered strawberries and Angela smells like a bunch of flowers and sweat." He concluded.

"Now smell Ben and me."

"_Ugh_. You both smell like sweat and…dirt."

"See!" Bella yelled sticking her tongue out at me.

"Yeah well guys are supposed to smell like dirt. It's…manly." I concluded.

"Well, I think it's manly when boys take showers." Bella laughed, "Now go wash up, you _stink_." She teased while plugging her nose.

**A/N: Soo? Hit or Miss?**

**There is one more chapter left and an epilogue...then onto the sequel!**

**I'm pretty excited for the epilogue of this story, it goes with the theme of the sequel and i plan on it being pretty funny :P i haven't actually written it yet, but i've been thinking about it!**

**Favorites?**

**I liked the part where Bella was saying goodbye to Edward and Renee had to keep coming outside to tell him to go home.**

**Happy Holidays Everyone!**

**I don't want anything for Christmas but reviews :) leave one!**

**LOVE YOU!**

**Emeleigh**


	29. Take it easy

**A/N: Hey!**

**So this is it...the beginning of the end.**

**Read on.**

BPOV

_Beep Beep. Beep Beep. Beep Beep._

I groaned and rolled over so I could see the clock.

4:15 A.M.

_It is way too early!_

I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Looking out the window I noticed it was still dark outside.

_Are you kidding me?!_

Reluctantly, I climbed out of bed and headed to the bathroom. The bus left at 5:00 this morning for East High School where the tournament was being held and I had to be on it…

After showering and throwing my hair up in a ponytail, I padded downstairs with my gym bag in tow.

I found Charlie reading the newspaper with a cup of coffee in hand as I walked into the kitchen.

"Why are you up so early Dad? You know its Saturday…right?"

"I know Bells, I just wanted to wish you good luck before you left." He chuckled.

"Oh, thanks. Are you and mom still coming to watch me play?"

"Wouldn't miss it." He said as he tried to stifle a yawn.

"Well we don't play until around nine so you can go back to bed." I laughed.

"Okay. Kick some butt today Bells." He yawned again before retreating back upstairs.

I eyed the still full mug of coffee he left on the table. I've never really tried straight black coffee before, it couldn't taste that bad…plus I needed the caffeine.

I carefully picked it up and sniffed it. It smelled fine, so I took a swig.

"Blegch!" I ran over to the sink and spit it out.

_Maybe I'll stop for a cappuccino instead…_

After getting myself a french vanilla cappuccino I pulled into the school's parking lot and noticed I was one of the first to arrive.

I boarded the bus and saw that Angela, Ashley, Erika and Ben were the only others that were here and took the seat behind Angela and Ben.

"Morning." Angela greeted me sleepily.

"How long is the bus ride supposed to be?" I asked, hopefully it would be long enough for a nap.

"About an hour. I don't know about you, but I plan on sleeping the whole way there." She laughed before letting out a long yawn.

"I'm definitely sleeping. I don't usually wake up on a the weekend until eleven at the earliest." I joked, but it was true. I'm not a morning person.

I set my bag on the seat to use as a pillow and laid down. My eyelids immediately felt heavy and I was out.

I started dreaming about a basketball game and I was just about to make the winning shot until…"GOOD MORNING ALL!!"

"Shutup Emmett!" I growled.

"Aww, Bella! Don't be a grump!" he said cheerily.

"Be quiet, let me get some sleep and I won't be grumpy." I snapped back.

"Okay,_ sheesh_. Edward, enjoy your bottle of sunshine." He said flatly.

At the mention of Edward's name I suddenly perked up a little, but not enough to open my eyes just yet.

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?" I heard him whisper in my ear.

That did it. My eyes shot open and were rewarded with a beautiful smiling Edward.

"Hi." I smiled back.

"Good morning." He leaned down and gave me a quick kiss on my forehead. "So, can I sit with you?"

"Of course." I scooted out of the seat and let Edward sit closest to the window.

I sat back down and rested my head on his shoulder, drifting back into unconsciousness.

The next thing I knew, someone was shaking my shoulder and softly calling my name.

"Bella, we're here. Time to get up." Edward whispered in my ear.

"No." I replied groggily.

He chuckled and I heard the muffled voices of him talking to someone else.

Then…"WAKEY, WAKEY TIME TO SHAKEY!!" followed by Emmett's big hands grabbing onto my arm and shaking me awake.

"Emmett! Stop!" I barked out finally.

"I told you she'd get mad." Jasper snickered while shaking his head.

"Well tell Edward that, it was his idea!" Emmett defended.

"How about you all just leave me alone." I grumbled, burying my head into the crook of Edward's neck.

"Bella, we really do have to get off the bus now…" Edward whispered again.

"Fine!" I huffed and slung my bag over my shoulder before exiting the seat.

I caught up with Angela, not caring if I left the 'lets-wake-Bella-up-it'll-be-funny' brothers behind.

Us girls were led to our locker room and we quickly dropped our stuff in there and went to go find some breakfast since we didn't play until the second game.

At breakfast, Coach Clapp had given each of us a rough schedule of the games that would be played today depending on how long each game lasted.

**Round 1**

7:00 a.m. – Game 1: **Boys** Forks high school vs. Port Angeles high school

9:00 a.m. – Game 2: **Girls **Forks high school vs. La Push high school

**Round 2**

11:00 a.m. – Game 3:** Boys **La Push high school vs. East high school

1:00 p.m. – Game 4: **Girls **Port Angeles high school vs. East high school

**Round 3**

3:00 p.m. – Game 5: **Boys **Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 3

**(other gym)** Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 3

5:00 p.m. – Game 6: **Girls **Winner of Game 2 vs. Winner of Game 4

**(other gym) **Loser if Game 2 vs. Loser of Game 4

**7:00 p.m. – Awards**

It was going to be a long day.

-:-:-

We finished eating and headed into the gym to wait for the boys' game to start.

Port Angeles was already on the court warming up, but our team hadn't come out yet. I looked around the bleachers and saw that it was a pretty good crowd considering it was so early in the morning. I noticed Esme and Carlisle sitting a little higher up than me so I decided to go talk to them.

"Good morning." I smiled as I plopped down beside Esme.

"Good morning dear."

"You need to have a conversation with your sons about the proper way to wake someone up." I said, still miffed about Emmett's shaking.

"What'd they do now?" Carlisle sighed/laughing.

"I was asleep on the bus and I heard Edward telling me we were here, then Emmett started yelling and shaking me around and Jasper just sat there laughing." I pouted, "And apparently it was all Edward's idea."

"Boys." Esme said as she rolled her eyes, "I always wanted a daughter, but nooo!" she muttered teasingly.

"Don't worry though, I put them in their place." I assured her.

"Good."

Just then Alice and Rosalie joined us, Alice as bubbly and bouncy as ever and Rosalie looking half-asleep.

"I don't see how anyone enjoys basketball if you have to get up this early to watch it, let alone play the game." She grumbled.

"What are you two doing here?" I asked surprised, I hadn't expected to see them until around Round 2 started.

"To see you guys play." Alice answered me in a 'duh' tone.

"Well I guess I just didn't expect to see you here this early."

"We decided to carpool with Esme and Carlisle since Renee and Charlie weren't coming until the second game. And plus we're the Cullen Brothers/Bella's number one fans! We're not allowed to miss even one game, it's a rule."

"So your two are like our personal fan club? With rules and everything?" I asked to clarify.

"Well Esme, Carlisle, Renee, and Charlie are in it too but we're the presidents." Alice said matter-of-factly.

"And sometimes you're in the club too, when you're not playing. Same goes for Emmett, Jasper, and Edward when they're not playing." Rose added.

"How long has this club been…_a club_?"

"Since the beginning of the season." Esme said casually.

"How come I didn't know about it?"

"Well, we thought you did. Maybe we forgot to tell you because of your big hospital scare…" Alice mused.

I just laughed, "So what are all the rules? I must not have broken any seeing as I'm still in the club."

"Number one is obviously don't miss any of their games, number two, make sure you cheer for them as loud as you can so they know your there…" Alice smirked when she told me that one. We all knew her, Rose, and Emmett were always the loudest fans at games.

"Number three, make sure you tell them they played well after the game…and… I don't know. I'm kind of just making them up now, we don't really have official rules okay?!" Alice sighed dramatically.

"Alright." I chuckled as she sat down.

Our team came running out onto the court at that moment and Alice and Rosalie stood up 'whooing' and clapping for them. Rosalie shot me a look and I realized I was supposed to be cheering too, seeing that I was officially in their club now.

I talked with them for a few more minutes, but then had to go back to where I was sitting before since Coach told us we had to sit with the team when we weren't playing.

I watched as Jasper lined up for the tip off. The whistle blew and he snatched it out of the air immediately. He dribbled down the court and faked left, passing the ball to Emmett. Emmett charged through the screening of players in front of him and dunked it!

"That a way Emmett!" Rosalie yelled from behind me. I saw Emmett's face light up when he recognized her voice and winked at her.

The boys ended up winning the game, which guaranteed them at least second place in the tournament! I was so excited for them that I almost forgot how nervous I was about the game I had to play in a few minutes…_almost_.

Last time our girls played La Push I was still injured and they lost to them pretty badly. I remember practically ripping my brace off so I could go out there and play but Coach made me sit back down. I just hoped that we could beat them today. I wanted first place so badly.

"Great job!" I squealed as I gave Edward a hug. I didn't even care about how smelly and sweaty he was, I was so happy.

He picked me up and twirled me around on the court. "Thanks! Now go get your uniform on, your up next."

"Okay…" I said, a little hesitant to leave.

Edward noticed, "Bella don't worry. You're going to go out there and knock the socks right off of them. Remember, you were hurt last time the girls played them, they don't know about the secret weapon Forks is about to unleash on them." He smirked.

I just rolled my eyes and headed to the locker room.

Angela noticed I was nervous too and she told me we were sure to win now that I could play. I rolled my eyes again, I didn't think I was as good as everyone thought.

We rushed onto the court and started warming up. I could hear my 'fan club' cheering for me from the stands. I snuck a peek at them and saw my parents sitting with Esme, Carlisle, Rose, and Alice. Charlie was whistling and Renee was trying to get my attention so she could get a picture of me.

I looked down a little more and saw Edward smiling at me. When he saw he had my attention he quickly mouthed 'I love you' then I heard Emmett holler, "WATCH OUT FOR NUMBER 13, SHE'S GRUMPY TODAY." over towards where La Push was warming up. I glared at him and he burst out laughing. Jasper just shook his head again and mouthed a 'good luck.'

We didn't start out the greatest. La Push had gotten possession of the ball immediately and made a three-pointer right off the bat. I could feel the nervous butterflies fluttering around in my stomach and I hoped that I wouldn't throw up.

I channeled all my nervous energy into the game and stole the ball away. Sprinting down the court I made a quick lay up before any of the others made it over to me and then sprinted back to the other hoop to wait for La Push to make a move to shoot.

They passed it to what I'm guessing was the best girl on their team, since they always seemed to pass her the ball, and I watched her carefully. She faked right and then shot from behind the free throw line, hoping to make another three-pointer.

_Not gonna happen._

I lunged for the ball and grasped it in my hands. The other team seemed a little shocked at first but quickly recovered as I passed it to Ashley and she dribbled to our hoop.

Coach called a time out and we huddled up. The managers brought us our water bottles and I hadn't realized how thirsty I actually was.

"Swan, I'm pulling you out for a little bit and Johnson, you're taking her place." Coach told us.

"Why?" I asked. I hadn't done anything wrong and I didn't want to just sit out and watch like I had been doing _all_ season.

"You're working yourself way to hard. You need to slow down. I'm not about to lose one of my best players again when I need you the most." She explained.

I nodded and went to go sit on the bench. Coach made me sit out the rest of the first quarter and put me back in at the beginning of second.

"Swan, your up. I want you to cover number 30. She's made the most points so far, but remember to take it easy. I'm not about to let you refracture your leg again because you wanted to win the game." She warned me.

I took my place on the court and I heard my fan club erupt into cheers, putting the widest grin on my face.

At halftime we were down 28-30. I was so mad at myself for 'taking it easy' like Coach told me to. If I had put everything I had into it like I did at the beginning of the game, we would probably be winning right now.

We got the usual pep talk during our break and started third quarter. Once fourth began we were still down by two so I decided to kick it into gear and not care about what Coach said.

They continued to pass the ball to number 30 and she continued to sink every one of her shots. Luckily we were just barely keeping up to them so the next time 30 got the ball I jumped in and stole it, taking it back to our side. I lined up my shot and…_whoosh_! It went in and we were finally tied!

The rest of the time we switched from being tied to La Push in the lead. Finally, it was twenty seconds until the end of the game and the score was 51-49, La Push.

The whistle went off and surprise, surprise, the ball found its way to 30's hands. I blocked her as well as I could and she couldn't find anyone to pass it to, so she went for a shot. It fell short and Angela picked the ball up and started heading to the other side. I looked at the clock, we only had five seconds.

"SHOOT IT ANG!" I yelled. She was right at half court and looked at me wearily. I gave her an encouraging nod and she chucked the ball at the hoop.

The ball sailed through the air and hit the backboard…

_ERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!_

The ball wound around the rim twice before it fell to the floor…after it went through the basket!!

I started screaming and ran to Angela pulling her into the tightest hug.

"You did it Ang!! We won!!"

She must not have watched because she looked at me confused and then at the scoreboard before joining in with my screams, "AHHHH!! I made it?! No way!!"

We ran off the court cheering where Ben quickly stole Angela away and I went to go find Edward.

I spotted him in the crowd and ran over, but on my way I felt a sharp pain shoot up my leg. It went away quickly so I didn't think anything of it.

As I got closer I noticed Edward was facing away from me, so I hopped on his back and covered his eyes.

"Guess who?"

"I have no idea." He said sarcastically.

"You're no fun." I accused.

I jumped off of his back and he faced me, "Great game! But why did you have to sit out in the beginning?"

"Coach told me I was doing too much and she wanted me to slow down before I hurt myself again. I was perfectly fine though!"

"Well you _shouldn't_ do too much. What if you were in the middle of a game and you landed on your leg wrong or something? Then what if it hurt so badly you passed out from the pain? What if-"

I placed a finger over his lips to stop his rambling, "I'm fine. My leg feels great. And I don't plan on passing out anytime soon."

"Alright. Sorry, but you can't do that to me again Bella. Remember what Alice told you about how messed up I was last time?"

I just nodded and gave him a hug.

Round 1 was over after we won our game and Round 2 had just begun, which neither of our teams played in. This gave us about a four hour break so Angela and I decided to take a nap in the locker room while the boys went and got something to eat.

After waking up from my re-energizing nap, Angela was still asleep so I ventured out into the gym to see how the games were coming along. I walked in and saw that Game 3 just got over and the score was La Push-47 East High-55. That meant that the boys would have to play East high school for first place.

I didn't see any of my family or friends in the stands so I made my way to the cafeteria to see if they were in there. Sure enough, all nine of them were seated at one of the tables talking.

"Hey. East high school just won against La Push. Looks like that's who you'll be playing Round 3." I told the Cullen brothers as I sat down.

"Yess! I was hoping we wouldn't have to play La Push again, it just gets boring." Emmett laughed.

"Did you sleep well?" Edward asked me as everyone else went back to their previous conversations.

"Yes, considering I didn't have my annoying boyfriend and his brothers to wake me up."

"Annoying?!" he asked dramatically.

"That's right, I said it." I quipped back.

"How can you call me annoying??" He asked feigning hurt.

"Well when you're by yourself its not as bad, but when you join these two oafs you're about as bad as the three stooges."

"Seriously?" he asked, all teasing aside.

"No, I was just joking! You aren't annoying…usually."

EPOV

Round 3 started and we were warming up for the game that decided who won the tournament. My nerves were shot and all I could do was stand there staring at the basket.

"Eddie?" Emmett waved a hand in front of my face. "_Eddieeeee_?"

"I think he's asleep." Emmett told Jasper.

"Em, his eyes are open and he's standing up. He's not sleeping."

"Well do you think we should slap him? He's not blinking…" Emmett wondered out loud.

"Yeah slap him, see what happens." Jasper encouraged, snickering.

I watched Emmett lift his hand back and swing it forward. I ducked just in time so it wouldn't make contact with my face.

"What do you think you're doing?!" I fumed.

"Hey!! Look who's back from la la land." Jasper teased.

I just blew them off and started warming up my shots. I didn't have time to joke around, it was getting down to the wire and we could win this thing. I wanted to win.

Turns out we had nothing to worry about. East High is not that good at basketball. Yes, they are better than La Push, but not by much. We won 67-45, in the first half we raked in the points and were ahead by twenty, so we started goofing off a little, you know playing keep away and trying out tricks, but then the other team began to catch up.

We got our butts chewed by Coach in the locker room during half time for 'not taking the most important game of the year seriously.' Long story short, we kicked it into gear and got first place!

I quickly found my family and friends, giving each of them a hug against there will. I was just so proud of our team and ecstatic that we got first place that I didn't even hear Alice and Rosalie complain about how gross I was.

I saved Bella for last and could tell she was freaking out again for this next game.

"You need to calm down Bella, you're getting yourself all worked up over nothing." I assured her.

"Nothing?! Edward, this is it. This is the game." She said frantically, her breaths getting quicker.

I rubbed a comforting hand on her back, "You'll do great. I know it."

"Okay…I better go get ready…" she sighed before heading to the locker rooms.

I hurried up and showered as fast as I could so I wouldn't miss too much of Bella's game. I decided to wear the girls' basketball shirt I had written 'Swan' on the back to hopefully cheer her up.

I entered the gym with time to spare as I watched the tip off, with us getting possession. Erika made the first points with a simple lay up and the game was officially on.

They made sure to stay ahead and by half time the score was 33-28. I was feeling pretty confident for them. I knew they had this in the bag but Bella still looked pretty nervous. They rushed back onto the court and I noticed Bella wince a couple times while warming up her shots.

Third quarter started and the other team came back with full force. They were making shots left and right. Soon the score was 50-48 and I was sitting on the edge of my seat.

By fourth quarter we were tied. The score kept switching between us being tied and us in the lead. There was one minute left on the clock and I could tell this would be a close game.

Bella was dribbling down court when number 8 from the opposing team came up behind her and shoved my Bella into Angela.

Angela's feet flew out from under her and she landed on top of Bella. The whole gym was in silence and I heard something pop.

Angela quickly hopped up and helped Bella up. Her pained expression told me something was wrong and I was immediately worried.

She limped over to Coach Clapp and they discussed a few things, it looked like Bella was pleading with her and Coach was reluctant to give in.

The ref went over and joined in and Ben had to hold me in place so I didn't march over there myself.

Finally, they dispersed and Bella lined up for her free throws. I could tell Bella was in pain; she looked as if she was holding back tears and she was wobbling as she tried to balance all of her weight onto her left leg. Bella tried to make it look like she was standing on both legs but I could tell she couldn't add any pressure to her right leg without it hurting.

No one had made even a peep as they watched Bella sink her two free throws, putting us ahead by four points now.

Coach Clapp called a time out when the clock hit thirty seconds. I could see her arguing with Bella as they both made wild hand gestures to the other team and the scoreboard.

We had possession of the ball, so when the timeout was over Bella practically limped out onto the court ball in hand.

The clock started and they kept passing the ball around, playing keep away with the other team. When it got down to ten seconds, they flung the ball to Bella.

_9 seconds._

She positioned herself right at the three-point line.

_8 seconds._

Bending down, she angled it perfectly…

_7 seconds._

The ball flew towards the hoop…

_6 seconds._

And it went in!

_5 seconds._

The other team grabbed the ball and started charging down the court.

_4 seconds._

The shot the ball…

_3 seconds._

And they missed!

_2 seconds._

Angela grabbed the ball and passed it to Bella once more. She started dribbling towards the hoop and I could tell she was fighting against the pain.

_1 second._

She got right up near the basket and tossed it in.

_ERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!_

They won! The score ended up being 60-55.

I sprinted out onto the court and Bella fell into my arms.

"It hurts Edward. Bad." She whimpered.

I scooped her up and carried her over to Carlisle. "Dad, I think it's her leg again."

I laid her down on the bleachers as Coach Clapp came running over. "You're a trooper Swan, but also very stubborn. She wouldn't let me have her sit out." She informed Charlie and Renee. They nodded in understanding.

"I wasn't about to sit out. I couldn't." Bella choked out.

Carlisle felt around where Bella had fractured her leg before and he didn't find anything wrong. "I think you may have cracked one of the bones. You'll have to come in for some x-rays, but I'm fairly sure you will have to wear the brace again."

Bella just groaned, "Can I at least stay for the awards?"

"You can't walk on your leg, it will only make it worse."

"I'll carry her…if that's all right." I offered.

"Charlie, Renee?" Carlisle asked turning to them.

"I didn't suffer through the end of that game just to be shipped to the hospital." Bella huffed.

"Well, I guess that's okay…seeing as Bella won't leave just yet." Renee chuckled.

A smile of victory spread across her face and I carried her back down to where our teams were sitting.

-:-:-

"Now…please give a warm round of applause for this year's tournament champions. The boys' and girls' Forks high school basketball teams!" The announcer called.

I lifted Bella up and walked out to the center of the court with the rest of our teammates.

The announcer handed the captains our trophies and asked if they would like to say a few words.

Ashley and Erika, the girls' team captains took the microphone and started in on all the people they wanted to thank.

"…And we wanted to give a special thanks to our MVP this year. We realized that without this very special girl, our team wouldn't have been as strong as it has been all season. And we know she'll refuse the title so we aren't giving her the choice. Bella Swan congratulations, we don't know of any other crazy girl that would beg to play after cracking a bone in her leg that had been fractured just a month ago!"

I smiled widely down at Bella who had her hands over her face.

"Bella…" I nudged her. She still didn't move her hands.

Then Emmett and Ryan took the mic. "We'll keep this short because Bella here has to get back to Forks for some x-rays…" The entire gym erupted into laughter as Bella removed her hands so she could glare at him.

They kept it short and sweet thanking our coaches and parents and everyone else who helped us throughout the season.

I went and grabbed our gym bags and loaded them into the back of my parent's car. The coaches let me ride with them since she was going straight to the hospital.

Bella decided she would rather wait and go to the Forks hospital so we fell asleep on the hour ride back home.

I dozed off instantly and found myself standing to the entrance of the Forks Annual Carnival.

There was no one there except for Bella, Alice, Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, and myself. Emmett and Jazz were standing by Rose and Alice talking and Bella was sitting under that ridiculous kissing booth sign looking bored.

I slowly walked up to her and felt the need to introduce myself. She giggled and told me her name as well.

We talked for what felt like only a few minutes before Emmett and Jasper started pulling me away.

I reached out for her hand but Rosalie grasped it instead, slipping a piece of paper into it.

Then she was gone, I still had the paper in my hand, so I unfolded it.

It read,

_Call her! 555-1073_

I woke up laughing, remembering the day we first met and how it hand changed my life forever.

**A/N: The End.**

**It's over :(**

**Epilogue will be up soon. Sequel following shortly after.**

**Favorite part?**

**"Okay,_ sheesh_. Edward, enjoy your bottle of sunshine." He said flatly.  
lol...oh, Emmett :)**

**Please Review!!**

**LOVE YOU!**

**Emeleigh**


	30. Epilogue: Eeep!

**A/N: This is it.**

**Before you read, I wanted to thank everyone who read, reviewed, favorited, gave me ideas, all of you, thank you so much!  
And a special thanks to all who convinced me to make this more than a one-shot :) look where its gotten us!  
So I just wanted you all to know how much I appreciate you and your kind words and praise, I have had so much fun writing this and hopefully you had just as much fun reading :)**

**So without further ado, I present the final addition to "555-1073"**

**Enjoy :)**

About 2 months later...

EPOV

"Oh man, I can't do this, no, I can't." Bella started hyperventilating.

"Breathe Bella." I said trying to calm her.

"_Breathe_?! You think breathing will help me at a time like this?!"

"Yes, actually. It would probably be a good idea to not block off your main source of oxygen." I teased.

She just glared at me.

Today was _the_ day. Yes, it was the day that determined the rest of our future.

It was the day we took our SATs. That's right, the most stressful test you'll ever have to take in your entire life.

But I wasn't as stressed as Bella, and she wasn't even the worst one out of all of us. Rosalie was a whole different story.

It started about a month ago when our guidance counselor started pulling kids out of class to discuss our education.

Bella got called during Biology and when she came back her face was paled and I swear she was going to faint. I remember that day at lunch her and Rosalie were quite hysterical.

_Flashback_

_"I have to start studying. The test is in like four weeks and I'm not prepared!" Bella complained._

_"Me either. What if I flunk their stupid test? What happens then?" Rose asked._

_"Well I heard of this one guy who got a really low score and they immediately gave him his garbage man uniform." Emmett said seriously._

_"WHAT?!" Bella and Rosalie shrieked together._

_"I do not look good in coveralls!" Rose fumed._

_"Well then I guess you better hit the books sweetie." Emmett snickered._

_He was having a great time getting the girls all riled up since he already took the SATs along with Jasper. They had been telling 'horror' stories of students past that had flunked it._

_Alice and I knew they were joking but apparently Bella and Rose thought they were serious._

_The following weeks we had scheduled study groups everyday after school and on Saturdays. Sundays were the only day Bella would agree to lay off the SAT prepping._

_End Flashback_

"Everyone please have out your Number 2 pencil, scratch paper, and a calculator." Mrs. Brooks, our guidance counselor, instructed.

"Oh gosh, it's starting. I don't think I'm ready. They should have given us more time to study." Rose said worriedly.

"Chill out. You're going to do fine. We have studied practically everyday for 30 days! You can't possibly feel unprepared." Alice scoffed.

"But I don't want to be a garbage woman!" Rosalie cried, "Alice, will you promise to design my coveralls when I flunk the test?"

"You. Are. Not. Going. To. Fail." Alice said slowly, "I don't know why you listened to Jasper and Emmett anyway. They were just trying to scare you. It obviously worked."

"Everyone, mouths closed. I am handing the tests out now. You have forty minutes to complete part one."

"_Eeep_!" Bella squealed. "Only forty minutes?! I didn't know it was timed!" she whispered.

"Bella, just relax. I know you'll pass with flying colors." I said rubbing her hand.

"_Eh-hem_! I said no more talking Mr. Cullen." Mrs. Brooks scolded me.

Bella snickered and took her hand from my grasp, returning to her test.

-:-:-

"I am _so_ glad that's over." Rose sighed as we exited the building.

"See it wasn't too bad." Alice pointed out.

"Yeah, I should have known that if Emmett could make it out alive I could too." She joked.

We all laughed and drove over to my house to meet up with Emmett and Jasper.

"How was it?" Esme asked as we entered the kitchen.

"Okay." - "Fine." - "Good." - "Alright." All four of us answered at the same time.

"Well you know what this means, now that you've got the hard part over with…" She trailed off.

"What?"

"Applying for colleges."

_Oh boy..._

**A/N: Okay that's it. No more. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nada. **

***To: MrsCullenOMG  
your private messaging is disabled and i need to tell you something,  
your reviews make me laugh :)  
and i can't believe you stayed up all night reading my story!! haha**

**So...for the last time...**

**Favorite?**

**"But I don't want to be a garbage woman!" Rosalie cried, "Alice, will you promise to design my coveralls when I flunk the test?"**

**and...**

**Your favorite part from the entire story?**

**From Ch 1 (wow that seems like AGES ago): **

**Our lips locked and a spark moved through my entire body. The kiss was soft, and it was amazing!! He caught my lower lip in between his and we were just about to get to the good part when…**

**I"EH-HEM!!!" _stupid Mike!! Can't he see I'm busy?!_**

**_*_Prologue and first chapter will be up on Wednesday for "Really, Really"  
_*Someone _gave me the idea to do an outtake of emmett and jasper for this story :P. I may do one if inspiration hits, so far I haven't thought of anything.**

**Please Review!**

**LOVE YOU!**

**Emeleigh**


	31. Outtake: Hey Eddie!

**A/N: Its kinda weird posting to this story again, I have to admit…and just so you all know how much I love you, I'm putting off my science homework so i could post this ASAP :)**

**You all asked for more Emmett/Jasper so who am I to deny you?? This takes place in Chapter 26 when they are on the bus to East High. Since it was in BPOV we missed what happened during the ride up there since she was asleep…**

EPOV

_"Hey now, you're an all-star get your game on, go playyyy!"_ Emmett sang as we boarded the bus. For being up so early in the morning, Emmett was annoyingly energetic.

"Why hello there kind sir! Where will you be escorting us to this fine morning?" He addressed the bus driver with a cheesy British accent.

The old man just stared at him and grunted. That didn't phase Emmett though, he hopped in the middle isle of the bus and greeted everyone, "GOOD MORNING ALL!!"

"Shut up Emmett!" I heard a very cute, very agitated voice growl from the back of the bus.

"Aww, Bella! Don't be a grump!" he called back to her cheerily.

"Be quiet, let me get some sleep and I won't be grumpy." she snapped back.

Emmett turned around to face me with a 'can-you-believe-how-cranky-she-is?' look, "Okay, _sheesh_. Edward, enjoy your bottle of sunshine."

_Well of course she's not going to be all flowers and rainbows when you yell at her at five freakin' a.m._

I smiled when I saw her curled up on the small bus seat, placed my lips right above her ear and whispered, "Excuse me, is this seat taken?"

Her brown eyes fluttered open and she smiled up at me, "Hi."

"Good morning." I leaned down and placed a sweet kiss on her forehead. "So, can I sit with you?"

"Of course." She scooted out and offered me the window seat.

I threw my gym bag underneath my feet and positioned myself in the corner of the wall and backrest. Bella crawled back in and immediately laid her head on my shoulder. Not even a minute later, I could hear her even breaths signaling she was sound asleep.

We waited a few more minutes before both teams were present and then headed off. Ben carefully turned around in his seat and gave me a knowing look. I snickered as I glanced beside him and saw Angela quietly snoring in his ear.

"Why is everyone so dead?!" Emmett asked in disbelief. "Come on guys, aren't you pumped?!"

The entire bus just groaned back sleepily.

"You're pumped right Jazz? Eddie?" He looked hopeful.

"Give me a chance to wake up first, then I'll feel a little more excited…" I mumbled and rested my head against Bella's.

"Well I for one am ready to kick some basketball butt!" Jasper cheered from beside Emmett.

"Right on, brother!!"

To help them 'get in the zone,' Emmett pulled out his iPod and stuck the right ear bud in Jasper's ear, and the left one in his own.

_"Jeremiah was a bullfrog, DUH-NUH-NUH, he was a good friend of mine, DUNUNULALOOOOO, I never understood a single word her said, but I helped him a-drink his wine!"_ Emmett belted out.

_"He always had some mighty fine wine!" _Jasper praised, raising his hands in the air.

Emmett followed his lead, and together they swayed back and forth as they sang. _"Sing it! Joy to the world…all the boys and girls now, joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea ans joy to you and me!"_

Coach Clapp whipped her head around and narrowed in on Jasper and Emmett, "Well aren't you boys just a little musical this morning."

"Yes ma'am." Jasper grinned widely.

"Just keep your tunes PG-13." She warned with an accusing finger before facing the front again.

Of course, now having been given permission to aggravate the entire bus the whole ride there, Emmett and Jasper scrolled through their play list.

They must have decided on a song because both of my brothers started to stomp their foot to the beat and clap their hands.

Jasper cleared his throat, and drawled the lyrics in a southern twang, _"If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eye Joe, I'd been married long time ago, Where did you come from, Where did you go, Where did you come from Cotton-Eye Joe?"_

He repeated this five more times and each new chorus, Emmett would try one of the dance moves in his seat.

He attempted this one kick-step-step-kick move that landed him in the floor. It was also at the same time we drove over a pothole, so as Emmett made contact with the ground, he bounced back up and hit his funny bone on the corner of a seat.

The people around him burst into laughter and I tried to stifle mine in fears of waking up a grumpy-when-she-doesn't-get-enough-sleep Bella.

By the time Emmett had recovered from his injury, Jasper had picked out another song. This time they started snapping and shaking their heads and hips as they waited for the lyrics to start. Jasper started singing softly, _"Jitterbug." -snap,snap-"Jitterbug." –snap, snap- "Jitterbug." –snap, snap- "Jitterbug." –snap, snap- _Then Emmett chimed in,_ "You put your boom boom into my heaarrtt, You send my sould sky high when your lovin' starts. Jitterbug into my brain,"_

Jasper interrupted in a girlish voice, _"Yeah, Yeah!"_

_"Goes a bang, bang, bang 'til my feet do the same. But something's bugging you, something ain't right, my best friend told me what you did last night! Left me sleepin' in my bed. I was dreaming, but I should have been with you insteaaddd!"_

Then to my surprise, Ben, Tyler, a few girls, Coach Clapp, and even the bus driver joined in, _"Wake me up before you go-go, Don't leave me hanging on like a yo-yo. Wake me up before you go-go I don't wanna miss it when you hit that highhhhhhhhhhh!!"_

The bus erupted into giggles and people called over to Jasper and Emmett to pick another song.

"Alright Eddie, you _have_ to sing this one with us." Emmett cleared his throat and addressed everyone on the bus, "I dedicate this song on behalf of Bella, since she is currently unconscious, to our dear Eddie!"

Jasper clicked play and I waited to hear what they had chosen. _"Oh Eddie, you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind, hey Eddie!" –clap,clap- "Hey Eddie!"_

I buried my face in my hands as people started to join in, _"Oh Eddie, you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind, hey Eddie!" –clap,clap- "Hey Eddie!"_

_"Oh Eddie, you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind, hey Eddie!" –clap,clap- "Hey Eddie!"_

I finally lifted my head from my hands, only to find all awakened passengers of the bus staring at me expectantly to join them in the new verse.

_Oh, what the hell!_

I waited for Emmett and Jasper to start singing again and belted out the lyrics with them, _"Hey Eddie, you've been around all night and that's a little long, you think you've got it right, but I think you've got it wrong. Why can't we say goodnight? So you can take me home, Eddie."_

_"Cause when you say you will, it always means you won't. You're givin' me the chills, baby, please baby don't. Every night you still leave me all alone, Eddie!"_

At this point, Emmett had positioned himself in front of Bella and placed his thumb on her chin so when he moved it up and down it looked like Bella was singing too.

_"Oh Eddie, what a pity you don't understand. You take me by the heart when you take me by the hand. Oh Eddie, you're so pretty can't you understand? It's guys like you Eddie. Ooh what you do Eddie, do Eddie. Don't break my heart, Eddie! Hey Eddie!"_

Then all of the sudden Bella moved her head and mumbled something. Emmett froze in his place and carefully removed his fingers from Bella's face. The bus got eerily quiet as we waited to see what she was going to do next.

"Emmett…jerk…pain…in my rear end." Bella grumbled and buried her head in between my shoulder and the bus seat.

We all stayed silent for another moment before Jasper couldn't hold his laughter in any longer. "Pthfffffftt!!" he wheezed out and then doubled over as Emmett held his sides.

Angela popped her head up then and looked around warily, "What'd I miss?" she yawned.

"The most kick ass sing-a-long ever!" Emmett reprimanded her.

"Language!" Coach Clapp hollered.

We settled back into our seats and realized the fun, singing-at-the-top-of-your-lungs mood was a lost cause now. Emmett wrapped his head phones around the small device and tucked it away in his bag.

We still had a good twenty minutes of the ride left, so Jasper decided to hold a ridiculous conversation with an oblivious Bella.

"Hey Bella…" he called softly.

"Hmmm Jazz?" she mumbled.

"I have a question."

"Hmmm Jazz?" she repeated.

"Are eyebrows considered facial hair?"

"Mmm…no." she answered simply.

"Why? Eyebrows are on your face." Emmett added.

She replied with some garbled words and then forcefully said, "They're not!"

"Calm down Bella, it was just a question." Jasper explained in his best calm voice while trying not to laugh.

I had never realized how alike Jasper and Emmett were, but now that I look at them, as they both harassed my girlfriend in her sleep, I could tell the family resemblance.

_Oh my god, I hope I'm not like that…_

"Jasper…Alice. I need a left shoe." Bella sighed, completely forgetting about her previous train of thought.

"Okay, here you go." Emmett said as he offered her an invisible left shoe, I'm guessing.

"Oh, thank you Emmett. Rose?"

"Yes Bella?" Emmett answered her again, but this time in a high squeaky voice.

"Imposter!!" Bella raised her voice and sat up.

That did it for Jasper and Emmett who leaned on each other for support in their fit of giggles.

"Ugh…!" Bella growled before she laid back down.

"Okay guys, you've had your fun. Leave Bella alone." I said seriously.

"Come on Eddie, she won't even remember anything. We're just having fun, don't be so grumpy, you look like Bella." He snickered.

I just rolled my eyes and tried to relax the rest of the way there.

Ten minutes later we arrived in front of East High School and the team started to file off the bus. I gently shook Bella and whispered in her ear, "Bella, we're here. Time to get up."

"No." she groaned.

I chuckled at the expression on her face. Her brows were furrowed together and she kept pulling the hood of her sweatshirt further over her eyes.

"Having a little trouble awaking the sleeping beauty?" Jasper smirked.

"Of course." I joked back.

"Well I can help you with that!" Emmett said proudly.

"Emmett…I don't think you should do that…" Jasper warned.

"Oh _puh-leeze_! Like I'm going to pass up an opportunity to annoy Bella!"

Before I could stop him, he grabbed each of Bella's shoulders and jiggled her around, "WAKEY, WAKEY TIME TO SHAKEY!!"

"Emmett! Stop!" she squealed.

"I told you she'd get mad." Jasper snickered while shaking his head.

"Well tell Edward that, it was his idea!" Emmett defended.

I opened my mouth to object but was cut off by Bella's bothered voice.

"How about you all just leave me alone." She snapped and hid her face in the crook of my neck.

I shot Emmett a 'haha-she's-not-even-mad-at-me' look and at the same time noticed we were the only ones left on the bus.

"Bella, we really do have to get off the bus now…" I whispered again.

"Fine!" she huffed dramatically and slung her bag over her shoulder. I watched her stumble off the bus and catch up with Angela.

"Dude, your girlfriend is _not_ a morning person." Jasper laughed.

**A/N: Whatcha think? :)**

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**Songs used in this outtake in order they appeared:  
****All Star – Smash Mouth  
****Joy to the World – Three Dog Night  
****Cotton-Eye Joe – Rednex  
****Jitterbug (Wake me up before you go-go) – Wham!  
****Hey Mickey – Toni Basil**

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**Favorite?**

**"Yes Bella?" Emmett answered her again, but this time in a high squeaky voice****  
****"Imposter!!" Bella raised her voice and sat up.**

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**If I think of another outtake to do I'll post it :) **

**-**

**Please Review and Follow!! (www . twitter .com / lleighh)**

**LOVE YOU!!**

**Emeleigh**


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